NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010

News and information for serving personnel

where to look

Defence Internal Briefs

Force Helmand (TFH) operations

updates as at March 30 2010

25/10: Delivering vital capability for the Armed Forces

– Decisions on procurement of defence equipment

24/10: Electoral registration

28/10: Guidance on conduct during the General Election 26/10: Afghanistan: Task

and Service personnel:

Exercising your right to vote in a General Election

23/10: National Insurance

credits for spouses and civil partners accompanying Service personnel on overseas assignments

22/10: Maritime defence:

ongoing commitment to deliver and maintain world class equipment for Royal Navy. The Type 26 combat ship is in the Assessment Phase to consider the ship’s design.

21/10: Important changes to the traditional medical certificate

or ‘sick note’ as of April 6 2010

20/10: Delivering vital capability for the Armed Forces:

Decisions on procurement of defence equipment

19/10: Tickets for Troops –

The charity Tickets for Troops offers members and veterans of the Forces free tickets to major sporting and cultural events across the UK through a dedicated website.

18/10: Publication of the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) 2009

headline report

Defence Instructions and Notices (DINs)

DIN 2010 DIN07-041:

Harassment Investigating Officers training 2010-2011 at the Joint Equality and Diversity Training Centre (Service personnel)

DIN 2010 DIN07-036: CDS’

Strategic Thinking initiative – the reading list (all)

DIN 2010 DIN07-032:

maternity arrangements for Servicewomen in the Reserve forces

DIN 2010 DIN01-071:

Statement of fitness for work – changes to the current sick note issued by General Practitioners (GPs)

DIN 2010 DIN01-069: Travel by

spouses/civil partners at public expense in connection with official visits

DIN 2010 DIN04-077: Stores

clothing retail prices for RN and RM all ranks/rates and associated Cadet forces

DIN 2010 DIN05-014: Defence

Instructions and Notices (DINs) – A Guide for Readers and Writers

DIN 2010 DIN10-011: The

Combined Services Chess Championships (CSCC) 2010

DIN 2010 DIN08-005: FI 05/10:

Claims for loss of, or damage to, personal property (regulation claims)

DIN 2010 DIN08-004: FI 04/10:

Activities that are not covered by the MOD’s self-insurance arrangements – non-core MOD business activities

DIN 2010 DIN08-006: FI 06/10:

Non-entitled charges for messing and accommodation

DIN 2010 DIN09-003: Armed

Forces Day June 26 2010

assignments

DIN 2010 DIN01-073: Revised

Navy’s Message House. Now available on the CNS/1SL website – Coherent and clear strategic messages about the Naval Service.

Volunteering for operational linguist duties (Service Personnel)

DIN 2010 DIN05-020: Defence

in-house publications policy (SROs and editors of MOD in- house publications)

DIN 2010 DIN01-065:

Formation of the Defence Cultural Specialist Unit and Cultural Specialist courses

DIN 2010 DIN01-064: London

Pride Event – Saturday July 3 2010

DIN 2010 DIN01-052:

Exemption from the use of Defence travel (all)

DIN 2010 DIN01-080: National

Issue 05/10 Nos 081/10:

Babcock Inter-Services Rugby Union championship 2010

Issue 05/10 Nos 082/10:

Nationality – Notification of UK Border Agency advice on changes to recording of exempt UK immigration control status

Issue 05/10 Nos 085/10:

Memorials

RNTMs

Issue 04/10 Nos 063/10: Driver

training courses for RN personnel, April 2010 to March 2011

Issue 04/10 Nos 066/10:

Machinery Space firefighting arrangements in high-voltage ships

Issue 04/10 Nos 067/10: White

Ensign Association summer term visit programme 2010

Issue 04/10 Nos 071/10:

The Worshipful Company of Engineers, RN operational engineering award, 2010

Issue 04/10 Nos 074/10:

Express coach travel discounts for 2010

DIN 2010 DIN01-076: National

Insurance credits for spouses and civil partners accompanying Service personnel on overseas

Introduction of the Royal Navy Deterrent Patrol pin

Issue 04/10 Nos 079/10:

Recruiting for the Family Services branch and Royal Marines Welfare

Issue 03/10 Nos 045/10: RN

Photographic competition 2010

Note: This is not a complete list and people need to check the RN Defence Intranet for a comprehensive index of internal communications briefings. The Internal Comms hub on the Defence Intranet is a one stop shop for all IC briefings and a link can be found under RN Information on the left-hand side of the front page of the RN Intranet.

Bolstering Britannia

BRITANNIA Royal Naval College is the alma mater of all serving RN officers. The Britannia Association (BA), which was formed nearly ten years ago, is the alumni association for the college. In April, the BA launched its

new website (see below) which provides comprehensive information about the association and events open to its members. Since its foundation the

It’s your 2-6

NEED to get your message across to the rest of the Royal Navy? To feature in the Navy News 2-6 pages contact Lt Cdr Heather Lane or WO1 Baz Cooke (Fleet Media Ops) on 93832 8809 or 93832 8821, email FLEET-DCS-

INFO-IC SO2 or FLEET-DCS- INFO-IC WO.

membership has grown to 5,000 serving and retired officers. The BA helps members to stay in touch with the Naval Service, fosters esprit de corps and provides funding for a large range of projects at BRNC. Over the last ten years the BA has donated more than £200,000 towards facilities and activities at the college which fall outside Crown responsibility.

The BA has organised several social events around the UK over the next year, starting in the Bristol area on Thursday June 10. The new website will carry up-to-date information on both events which are open to both current and prospective members of the Association. If you want to find out more about the Britannia Association, visit the new website online at

www.britanniaassociation.org. uk.

Galaxy Messages

Galaxy 2010-06: The Royal

Spring blossoms

Federation.

n Changes to National Insurance credits for overseas assignments

As of April 6 Service spouses and civil partners are able to claim National Insurance credits,

order to maintain their National Insurance record for time spent accompanying their spouse or civil partner on an overseas assignment.

Spouses and civil partners accompanying personnel on overseas assignments may be unable to work and will therefore not pay UK National Insurance contributions.

in

TO ENSURE that you are kept up to date with changes to regulations and recent developments, here is a roundup of breaking news that will be of interest to serving personnel and

their families, writes Emma Prince of the Naval Families

This is likely to create a gap in their National Insurance record, which could jeopardise entitlement to the basic state pension and contribution based Social Security benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance. National Insurance credits will

not, on their own, entitle a person to benefits, but they will maintain the position that the individual held on departure from the UK. All spouses and civil partners are encouraged to apply for these credits at the end of an overseas assignment. Nationality or citizenship does not affect entitlement but applicants must have a UK National Insurance Number. The Department for Work

35

l Childcare vouchers might be available to help Naval families – here two Marines from 42 Commando, based at Bickleigh Camp, joined youngsters last summer at the new Little Tugs Radford creche at Plymstock where many of the family of the children are serving military personnel

still take vouchers each month and keep them for when you need them.

and Pensions (DWP) has agreed a fast-track process for assessing the eligibility to, and issue of, a National Insurance number to Service spouses or civil partners without a UK National Insurance number applying for National Insurance credits. National Insurance Credit

applications must be validated against information held on JPA by your Unit Personnel Office before submission to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). For further information on this

topic, and details of the application process, please visit the DirectGov

website (www.direct.gov.uk/en/ Pensionsandretirementplanning/ StatePension/DG_183760).

This initiative falls in line with the pledge of The Nation’s

Commitment: Cross Government Support to our Armed

their Families and Veterans – also

known as the Service Personnel Command Paper. This document was published in July 2008 and seeks to ensure that our Armed Forces community are not disadvantaged as citizens by the unique demands imposed by Service life.

n Reduced response times for maintenance issues

Since April, Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) have reduced its routine response time from 20 days to 15 days.

This reduction aims to provide a better service to customers and has been brought about through a streamlined administrative process. If you have any contributions about the level of service you have received please get in touch with the NFF.

n Moving house? Forward your mail

A reminder that Defence Estates do not and cannot forward any personal mail delivered to your old address. Whether you are moving from

Service Families Accommodation or a private address, it is vital to update your contact details so that you do not miss out on important post. Royal Mail offers a redirection

service on their website (www. royalmail.com) although a cost is attached.

Alternatively you should approach all important contacts, such as banks and doctors etc to inform them of your move. If you are receiving mail addressed to your home, but for the attention of someone else, please write ‘not at this address’ on the envelope and put in a post box.

Forces,

n Save money with the childcare voucher scheme

Childcare vouchers are designed to help working parents pay for childcare. You can convert part of your

salary into vouchers – up to £243 per month – saving the tax and National Insurance you would normally pay on that amount. The amount you save depends

on your individual circumstances, including the value of the vouchers you choose to take, your tax rate and your National Insurance contributions. You could save over £1,000 on

your childcare costs each year. There are now over 4,400

Service personnel benefiting from this scheme and between them they save around £330,000 a month. You can join the scheme if: l You are a parent or legal guardian responsible for and paying towards the upkeep of a child under the age of 16 who is attending any form of approved or registered childcare. l Your salary remains above the

national minimum wage and the lower earnings limit after you have taken childcare vouchers. Most childcare providers are happy to accept childcare vouchers as long as you adhere to their own payment terms. Vouchers are valid for 18 months (renewable if necessary) and can be spent whenever you want, so it doesn’t matter if your childcare costs vary – you can

Please note that vouchers cannot be used for school fees. The scheme offers real benefits

the additional measures that have been put in place to benefit Service personnel and their families. As Armed Forces personnel you

but there are some circumstances that need to be considered. HMRC govern all childcare

voucher schemes and offer a Childcare Indicator for you to assess your personal

circumstances prior to applying for the vouchers. Please visit www.hmrc.gov. uk/calcs/ccin.htm to access this information. Sodexo run the Armed Forces

family

have ‘priority status’ to access the schemes whilst you are serving, and for a further 12 months after you leave.

The leaflet can be viewed on the NFF website.

n Changes to child maintenance payments

As of April 12 child maintenance

Childcare Voucher Scheme; please see their website (www. modchildcare.co.uk) for further information for parents and carers, full eligibility details and joining instructions. Alternatively you can telephone their Customer Services team on free phone 0800 066 5075. For those already aware of

the voucher scheme it is worth noting that some changes have been implemented to make it even easier to cut the cost of your childcare; for example you may now join and leave the scheme at any time as long as you remain in for at least one month at a time. Visit the website for more

information on these changes. Are you using the scheme successfully? If so we would like to hear from you. We don’t believe enough people

are aware of the difference this scheme can make and would like to do an item on a family for whom the scheme has worked.

n Latest Personnel support brief

now been released. Visit the NFF website (www.nff.org.uk) to read the full document. There is an abundance of useful

information for personnel and their families which is updated hour by hour, including useful summaries on the Pay Award 2010, the Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

n Affordable Homes

There are numerous housing schemes available to help Service personnel to buy their own homes.

A helpful leaflet has been put together by the Service Personnel Command Paper team, which outlines the schemes available and

The Spring 2010 brief has

is to be completely disregarded for all parents with care receiving income-related benefits. This means that those people entitled to benefits and child maintenance can for the first time receive all of their maintenance without it affecting their benefit payments. Previously, parents with care in receipt of benefit have been allowed to keep the first £20 of child maintenance per week, ‘the disregard’, before their benefits are reduced. Since April 12 a full child maintenance disregard is applied, which means they can keep all the maintenance which is paid without it affecting their benefits. Visit the CSA website (www. csa.gov.uk) for full details on these changes.

n National Express offer half- price coach travel for Service personnel

The coach firm National Express is offering half-price fares for all serving personnel. The scheme is backed by the MOD and allows Reserve Forces and cadets to benefit from the discount. Service personnel can register for the discount through the National Express website (www.

nationalexpress.com).

There is no requirement to purchase a card; simply show your Military ID to validate the booking. National Express operates

services to more than 1,000 destinations nationwide, including Portsmouth and Plymouth.

n Contact the NFF

If you have any comments on the issues discussed in this article, or would like to raise a matter of concern, please e-mail the NFF on admin@nff.org.uk or telephone 023 9265 4374. Postal correspondence can be sent to: Castaway House, 311 Twyford Avenue, Portsmouth, PO2 8RN. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48