Clause 74
Pensions Bill
1:00 pm
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 6, in clause 74, page 35, line 21, at end insert—
‘( ) subsection (1) shall not apply to any member of the reserve forces who is paid for more than six months in any three-year period.’.
I welcome you back to the Chair for our afternoon sitting, Mrs. Anderson.
I do not think that I technically have to declare an interest, in that I am not currently a member of the reserve forces, but I was for 12 years, in an earlier life. When I served, the role of territorial soldiers, the Royal Naval Reserve forces and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force was somewhat quieter than it is today. It is no secret that our reserve forces are much more of an integral part of the combined efforts of our armed services across the world at the moment. Not all members of the Committee might be aware that territorial soldiers are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, it is really on the issue on the length of time for which many of our reserve forces are serving that I have tabled the amendment.
When I joined the Territorial Army back in 1980, one classically did a night a week, a weekend a month, and perhaps two weeks’ annual continuous training a year—if one was really keen, one would go on a few extra courses—and that was it. Of course, one understood that the pay did not come with pension contributions, and that was not a problem.
My friends who are still Territorials tell me that there are many territorial soldiers and members of other reserve forces who serve for quite long periods—tours of six months or more are not unusual—and come back for perhaps a short time before going out again. It is no secret that the regular forces are short of people to fill those places, so our three armed services rely very heavily on the reserves. I really just want to challenge and probe the Minister as to whether he and his officials should perhaps go back and speak to colleagues in the Ministry of Defence, re-examine this issue, and get some exact statistics and figures on the number of reserve forces personnel who are serving on extended tours of duty, and perhaps back-to-back tours of duty.
There are people who make more or less a full-time career out of being a reserve soldier. They might come back to do something else for a while, but then their camaraderie, or whatever campaign is being fought throughout the world, calls them back. That situation might continue for very many years. The years could mount up until suddenly they take stock of their financial situation and realise that the work for which they have earned their income for many years has not represented pensionable service, although their colleagues in the regular forces have been amassing nice pension contributions during their service.
All that I am really saying to the Minister is that the world has changed and there is now a much greater length of service. The whole issue of the military covenant is quite rightly under discussion. He might be familiar with the phrase “one Army” with regard to the Territorials and full-time Regular Army. Although this is the classic position, it might perhaps need to be revisited, so I would ask him to consider that. If he cannot come forward with a proposal now, I would ask him to go back to the Department and consult with Defence Ministers and with the wider reserve forces community on this issue, and perhaps give us further thoughts on the matter on Report.