Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Bill

Part of the debate – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:30 pm on 3 February 2004.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Julian Brazier Julian Brazier Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) 2:30, 3 February 2004

I, too, am delighted to be under your chairmanship, Mr. O'Brien. I do not regard as a small matter fighting to defend a fine Territorial battalion; rather, I think that the Minister has flagged up an important matter.

Given the leadership of the Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot, I am certain that this will be a good-natured Committee. I therefore hope that I shall not seem to be striking a sour note by raising two issues, the first of which is the provision, by as late as 5 o'clock last night, of material on the early departure scheme. One thing that is clear in the Defence Committee report is that that is at the heart of the Bill. It is one of its two most controversial aspects—together with the compensation arrangements—and it is extremely complicated. It is very unsatisfactory that we were furnished with material on it at 5 o'clock on the night before this sitting.

May I make a point of detail on this matter? The Department has taken the trouble to provide some worked examples on the back of this complicated and lengthy brief. The relevant worked example focuses on somebody leaving the armed forces aged 40. However, as the Defence Committee pointed out, the most vulnerable group is not the people who leave when they are young, at 40, but those who leave at 47 or 48, having given most of their career, who are relatively unemployable. Could the Minister provide us as quickly as possible, in time for our debates, with some worked examples for other ages, particularly for people in their late 40s and early 50s? If—