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23 Oct 2007 : Column 172W—continued
These figures are the total over and underpayments. It should be noted that the majority of the 51,917 underpayments recorded in August relate to a single error which took a charity contribution from each RN/RM account of £3. The error has been corrected and the money will be re-credited to pay accounts in October.
Armed Forces: Pensions
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate (a) the cost of making service in the armed forces prior to 1975 of less than 22 years duration pensionable and (b) the consequential costs elsewhere in the public sector of making service in the armed forces prior to 1975 of less than 22 years duration pensionable. [158652]
Derek Twigg: It is not practical to make an accurate estimate of the cost of making pension awards to those service personnel who served less than 22 years reckonable service prior to 1975.
The consequential cost of providing pensions for pre-1975 service on a retrospective basis across the public sector would be prohibitive—exceeding billions of pounds.
There remains no realistic prospect that this or any Government could afford to address these public-sector pension legacy issues. Further details were set out in the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, then Minister for the Armed Forces, in the Adjournment Debate on 31 January 2007, Official Report, columns 338-40, which clearly set out the legislative and policy background to this matter.
Armed Forces: Personnel Management
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving and former RAF personnel payments have been missed since 1 January 2007 under Joint Personnel Administration; how many complaints have been received from members of the armed forces about Joint Personnel Administration; and how many complaints are still outstanding. [158766]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 16 October 2007]: The total number of serving and former Royal Air Force personnel payments that have been missed since 1 January could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, across the three services between 1 January 2007 and 30 September 2007 there have been 55,305 underpayments (which may be considered missed payments) and 683 pension payments which were not enabled within the target of five working days of discharge.
The majority of the 55,305 underpayments relate to a single error that occurred in August which took a charity contribution from each Royal Navy and Royal Marine account of £3. The error has been corrected and the money will be re-credited to pay accounts in the October pay run.
Between 1 January 2007 and 30 September 2007, 1,053 complaints had been received from armed forces personnel via the centralised JPA complaints process about incorrect payments and other apparent problems with pay or the handling of queries. Of these, 47 remain outstanding.
Army: Drugs
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Army personnel tested positive after compulsory drug testing using urine samples for (a) cocaine only, (b) ecstasy only, (c) cannabis only and (d) any drug in (i) 2003 and (ii) 2006, broken down by the day of the week on which the sample was obtained. [157335]
Derek Twigg:
The following table illustrates positive drug tests for each drug and combination of drugs for the years 2003 and 2006. Details of the day of the week
on which each positive sample was obtained could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Drug type | 2003 | 2006 |
Army: Recruitment
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the rate of recruitment to the Army was in each of the last five years, broken down by sector. [157165]
Derek Twigg: The following tables show the rates of gains to trained strength of the UK Regular Army by Arm/Service during the financial years 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 and for the period 1 April 2006 to 28 February 2007.
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