back

Veterans pension scheme attacked

BBC News

December 16, 2003  

Proposed changes to armed forces pensions are "arbitrary and unfair" and will leave veterans worse off, MPs have warned.

The Ministry of Defense wants to cut the level of pensions paid to offset the expected £125m annual cost from future rises in life expectancy.

The changes would also put back the age at which most veterans start receiving their pensions from 60 to 65.

A Commons Defense Committee report said the pensions review had been "hamstrung" by financial restraints.

The MoD says the changes, contained in the Armed Forces Bill announced in last month's Queen's Speech, mean future schemes will cost no more, in real terms, than the current one.

'Unique contribution'

But the committee said the shrinking size of the armed forces meant the MoD could still afford to pay veterans what they deserved.

Unlike other public servants, military personnel are generally unable to extend their period of service to improve their pensions.

The defense committee chairman, Labour's Bruce George, said: "Our armed forces make a unique contribution to this country and they deserve better than this."

The report also called for the scrapping of plans to make veterans claiming compensation prove their illness or disability is due to military service

It said: "Because of the special risks that armed forces personnel are required to run, and because they are likely to be involved in situations of great uncertainty, with uncertain effects on their health, we continue to believe that the onus should remain on the government to prove that service was not responsible for causing or worsening a condition for which a compensation claim is made."

The committee also urged the government to quickly compensate veterans who lost out because their pensions had been wrongly taxed.

Swift payment

In a statement, the MoD said it accepted responsibility for the error and "apologized unreservedly".

"Payment will be made as quickly as possible.

"It will, however, take some months to complete all payments because the necessary data on each individual is held mainly on manual records."

Veterans Minister Ivor Caplin said they "deeply regret" the errors.

The defense committee did welcome planned improvements in the entitlements of widows and widowers of those who die in service, as well as changes to allow unmarried partners to benefit from death-in-service payments. 

Copyright © 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us