SNP tackle Defence Minister on forces pay scandal
Posted on Tuesday, September 19 2006
Moray Member of Parliament Angus Robertson has thrown the guantlet down to the Ministry of Defence to find a solution to the IT problems plaguing their pay system.In recent months service personnel have seen their pay packets completely messed up with missing payments, double charging for accommodation and bills for services they have not used. This has left many families struggling to pay regular bills and is causing morale to suffer.Mr Robertson, who is also the SNP's Defence Spokesperson, has written to the Secretary of State for Defence seeking information on the extent of the problem and demanding at the very least a short-term fix to ensure that service families are not being forced into unnecessary debts to cover everday living costs.Commenting Mr Robertson said:" This situation is completely unacceptable. With many families having loved ones posted on dangerous missions in areas like Afghanistan and Iraq the last thing they need is to have unnecessary financial worries." When people are putting their lives on the line in the Armed Forces the very least they can expect is to be paid what their contract says." For any family to be put in this position is unacceptable and from the number of complaints my office has received I am extremely concerned about the numbers affected." I have asked the Minister to take urgent action to ensure that personnel are not missing substantial sums from their pay by whatever means are necessary until the underlying IT issues are resolved."Ends.Notes:The text of Mr Robertson's letter to the Secretary of State reads as follows:You will be aware of press reports regarding the problems with the MoD's personnel administration and specifically the computer system used for paying service personnel. These are issues that I have further investigated with constituents working in the forces who have confirmed the major problems they have encountered with the system. My understanding is that a variety of significant problems have occurred including double-charging for married quarters rental, non-payment of flying allowances for aircrew and charging for services not being used such as charging for mess meals to personnel who do not eat in.It is my understanding from constituents that many are several hundreds of pounds out of pocket and in some cases thousands of pounds. For those with young families on a tight budget this can result in unnecessary debt with the interest and repayments this incurs or even being reliant on welfare handouts. This is completely unacceptable, particularly at a time when the armed forces are engaged involved in so many dangerous missions around the world.Service personnel accept their responsibilities largely without complaint and, in fact, with huge enthusiasm and professionalism, however the morale levels of the forces are undoubtedly being undermined by these administrative issues. Personnel should not have to be worrying about whether their pay is correct and that their bills can be paid when they are in the middle of Helmand province in Afghanistan, Southern Iraq or indeed any other posting.I have made repeated pleas to the MoD in the last few years on a variety of welfare and administrative issues some of which have been resolved and some of which remain outstanding. What gives me the greatest concern however is not so much that the problems occur in the first place, large organisations such as the MoD will always have to deal with such issues from time to time, it is the apparent lack of contingency to deal with these issues.In this instance we have personnel whose pay has been a mess for several months. Where systems used for Joint Personnel Administration go badly wrong I would expect punitive clauses in the contract with the supplier, in this case EDS, to be in place to cover contingency costs and where such clauses are not available then the MoD should not baulk at the idea of spending money on short-term measures until the system is fixed. When people put their lives on the line in the armed forces the very least they should be able to expect is to be paid what is in their contract.Please inform me of your assessment of the problems I have outlined above and the measures that are being taking to resolve them.Yours sincerelyAngus Robertson
|