Y o u a n d t h e R A F
o International commitment: 26 nations contribute troops to the US-led Coalition in Iraq.
o Legitimacy: Multi-National Forces are under the authority of UN mandate (UNSCR 1723) at the request of the democratically- elected, Iraqi Government.
o Security: to date, 434,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel have been trained and equipped by the international Coalition. The vast majority of terrorist attacks are confined to just four out of eighteen provinces of Iraq.
o Politics: Last elections (December 2005) saw a 75% turnout.
Personnel The Military Covenant – What is it?
• The ‘Military Covenant’ is an Army document written in 2000 and last reviewed in 2005. It is based on a long standing principle within the Armed Forces of fair treatment in return for selfless commitment. It is not a formal agreement and does not replace the statutory entitlements or obligations of personnel (e.g. as laid down in the Armed Forces Act).
The MOD takes very seriously its responsibility to ensure that Service personnel, who put themselves in harm’s way on our behalf, are properly looked after. We also accept our clear obligation to support their families and those who have left the Armed Forces.
• We are investing heavily in our personnel and have made significant progress across a very broad range of issues including: operational allowances, accommodation, basic pay, medical treatment and force protection. We recognise that there is more to do.
• We are producing for the first time a cross government Service Personnel Strategy, to look at the support we currently provide, take stock of any shortfalls and decide how to address them. (Chairman’s Note: the Chairmen of the 3 Service Families Federations have been invited by the Minister for Armed Forces to contribute to this work in the first half of 2008).
Key facts o Accommodation: £5bn committed to be spent over the next 10 years.
o Pay: a 9.4% pay increase in 2007 for the most junior. An average 3.3% across all ranks – the best that year in the public sector.
o Op welfare: free phone calls increased to 30 minutes per week and an increase to the operational allowance (now £2320). 100% increase in the amount of welfare internet terminals and 20% in welfare telephones.
o Council tax: those on a 6-month tour in Iraq or Afghanistan to get a £140 rebate on their Council Tax.
o Post: MoD and the Royal Mail agreed the continued provision of free parcel post (under 2Kg) to Iraq and Afghanistan
Manning
The Armed Forces are very stretched but the Chiefs of Staff advise that, at present, the situation is manageable.
• There are shortages in certain trades and disciplines. These are being addressed through retention incentives, increased recruiting and by restructuring the Services to improve effectiveness.
• We have reduced operational commitments (in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and now Iraq). This has helped to reduce the frequency of operational tours for units and individuals. But operational tempo remains high.
Key Facts o As at 1 Oct 07, RAF strength was 41,710 representing 94.3% of the current requirement of 43,110 (a shortfall of 1,400).
o Voluntary Outflow (PVR) rates have varied by less than 0.5% over the last decade and compare well with other sectors (staff turnover in the production industry: 8.2%. Armed Forces other ranks: 5.5%).
o Financial Retention Incentives are proving successful.
o Between 1 July and 30 Sept 17% of our regular forces were deployed on
operations – a reduction of 5% compared with the previous quarter.
Living
Accommodation
We acknowledge that there are serious problems with some of our accommodation, because of a legacy of under-funding and the scale of the estate. It will take time to put things right. This is one of our top priorities and we are making progress.
• As well as improving accommodation and rationalising our Estate, we provide help to personnel who want to buy their own homes.
Key Facts o The MOD is one of Britain’s largest property managers, tasked with maintaining and upgrading some 66,000 families’ homes and around 167,000 single living bed spaces across hundreds of sites in 16 countries.
o In 2006/07 the MOD spent some £700m on living accommodation and we anticipate spending more than £5bn over the next decade, (£1bn for new builds, £2bn for refurbishment and £2bn for personnel to live in rented accommodation).
o In 2006/07 we upgraded 1,215 family homes against a target of 1,200 and we have plans to improve a minimum of 600 per year. Over the last six years, the percentage of housing stock at standard 1 has risen significantly from 41% to 59% and to date 95% of Service Families Accommodation (SFA) in Great Britain is rated at standards 1&2 (1 being the highest- 4 being the lowest).
o We are also investing more heavily in other improvements – for example refurbishing 5,000 properties in England and Wales in 2007/08 and replacing almost 3,000 boilers.
o Over 23,000 new or upgraded single-living accommodation (SLA) bed spaces have been delivered since 2001. 2,207 bedspaces were delivered in 2006/07 and we aim to deliver around 2,100 in 2007/08.
o The recent announcement of an additional £80M increases funding on all SLA up
Spring 2008 35
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