FEDERATION NEWS
The Federation’s PAY SURVEY Struck a Chord!
‘Pay, Pensions and Other Stuff’ – a survey title deliberately designed to provoke interest. And it did! Very many serving personnel and their families played their part in providing the evidence the RAF Families Federation needs to put a persuasive argument to the Armed Forces Pay Review Body this Autumn. So how did you respond?
A
s part of the Federation’s evidence-gathering activity, in Jun 12 we ran an online survey, supplemented by interactive workshops, on the subject of ‘Pay, Pensions and Other Stuff ’.
Workshops were held at RAF stations Leuchars and Lossiemouth, with the students on the Future Commanders’ Study Period, and with a select group of Station Warrant Officers (possibly the scariest audience we have faced to- date!).
Our reason for seeking views on these subjects was to inform the evidence we provide on your behalf to the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB). Our suspicions were that RAF personnel and their families were beginning to feel the cumulative impact of an enduring pay freeze, cuts to allowances, the increased cost of living, not to mention the stark fact of compulsory redundancy that had impacted adversely on many families since our 2011 survey on pay-related subjects.
We were also picking up strong vibes of concern regarding the on-going review of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme and we wanted to capture this, and other aspects of RAF life, to ensure the AFPRB were given the latest evidence upon which to base their recommendations to the Government.
A total of 1,096 family members voted in this survey – 766 online and 330 during workshops. Thank you to everyone who participated and special thanks to those who took the time to write copious notes, which added real depth and colour to the evidence gathered. It was good to see that, of the respondents, 21% were non-serving family members and we were pleased to see votes gathered from around the world, with notable participation by those in the Diaspora. Almost 30% of the votes came from commissioned personnel.
The top themes emerging from those who voted: 1. 91% believe it is important to have an independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body. However, 60% felt the role has been affected adversely by the Government’s policy on public sector pay.
2. While 29% felt the Government was right to impose a two year pay freeze, 74% disagreed with the decision to then restrain pay for a further two years.
3. 46% said they, or their serving family member, routinely worked more than 50 hours per week in the RAF.
4. A third described the level of separation they experienced as too high and that it had an unacceptable impact on family life.
5. 32% considered ‘job security’ to be the main advantage of serving in the RAF, while 15% said it was ‘the pension’.
24
Envoy Autumn 2012
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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