Soldiers attack 'unfair' one per cent pay rise and warn they are facing 'perfect storm' of rising rents and tax hikes
Soldiers warn they have been left feeling "undervalued" and that the Army faces a recruitment crisis after the Government announced that they will receive a pay rise of just one per cent.
Serving members of the Army say they face the "perfect storm" of below-inflation pay rises, rising taxes and the prospect of increased rents.
They told the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB) that they were effectively getting a pay cut because of the rising cost of living and warned that they could leave the services.
The AFPRB warned that the armed forces will face a recruitment crisis if the private sector continues to recover and inflation continues to rise.
The report says: "Many staff commented that the value of the overall offer had declined significantly in recent years and that the investment in new military equipment was not being matched by investment in service personnel to operate or maintain it.
"In general, we heard about the lack of trust in the employer to maintain the offer in future and an increasing feeling that people were not joining the services for a career but to obtain training and skills before moving on to alternative (and possibly better paid) employment elsewhere."
While saying that the one per cent pay rise will "broadly maintain pay comparability with the civilian sector", the AFPRB warned that there was a risk that it could "undermine operational effectiveness" in future.
It said: "On levels of pay generally, our visit programme made clear that service personnel are becoming increasingly frustrated with public sector pay policy. They feel their pay is being unfairly constrained in a period when costs are rising, private sector earnings are starting to recover and the high tempo demands on the armed forces have not diminished.
"If the private sector continues to recover and if inflation continues its upward trajectory, we could foresee recruitment becoming more challenging and morale being adversely impacted. If there was clear evidence of this, we would need to consider very carefully whether a one per cent average limit on base pay was compatible with continued operational effectiveness."
The AFPRB said that the Government was already facing a significant skills shortage in areas such as engineering, where it said "recruitment and retention is critical".
It said: "We consider it essential that the MoD presents us with specific proposals for engineers for the next pay round. Given the employment challenges for this group, and the persistent shortage of engineering skills in the external market, it seems likely that alongside other initiatives, bespoke pay solutions will be needed for some specialisations within these cadres."
The report added: "We know that there is a strong link between retention and the disruption of a predictable family life. We are, therefore, concerned that the continuing low levels of morale and the other factors impacting negatively on family life will sustain the historically high voluntary outflow rates, particularly for those with transferable skills who are highly sought after by civilian employers, able to offer more stable employment packages with a better work-life balance."
