16.1 |
The welfare of Service Personnel
information
and answers they wanted. This will be borne in mind in considering
how
best to
improve the support they need.”74
101.
The report
also stated that, in order to preserve the volunteer ethos of
Reservists
and the
goodwill of families and employers, the MOD had revised the
“desired notice”
period for
mobilisation from 14 to 21 days. Operational requirements meant
that for
Op TELIC
1, some Reservists received only four days’ notice.
102.
The report did
not specify what action would be taken to address these
difficulties.
103.
In the same
month, an NAO report on Op TELIC stated that some
Reservists
received as
little as two or three days’ notice, due to absence from home,
postal times
and
incorrect addresses.75
104.
The MOD set
out the role of the Reserve Forces in the February 2005
publication
Future Use of
the UK’s Reserve Forces.76
The paper
stated that:
•
In
recognition of the fact that most members of the VRF joined to
undertake
activities
which were a contrast to their civilian employment, the MOD would
not
mobilise a
Reservist to take advantage of his or her civilian skills except
with the
express
agreement of the Reservist and their employer. This would not
preclude
a commander
on operations ordering an already mobilised Reservist to carry
out
a task for
which he or she was qualified, as a short-term expedient and
where
no other
alternative existed.
•
While the
Reserve Forces Act 1996 set a limit on the time any
Reservist
could be
mobilised (generally one year over a three-year period), the
MOD
believed
that this level of mobilisation was “unsustainable”. The MOD
would
therefore,
where possible, limit the time that any Reservist would be
mobilised
to one year over
a five-year period.
•
The MOD
would seek to provide 28 days’ notice of mobilisation
(21 days previously).
105.
In April 2005,
the MOD introduced a new remuneration package for
Reservists
deployed on
operations.77
Under the
new scheme, if Reservists were mobilised and
their
civilian pay was higher than their Service pay, they could claim
the difference,
including
certain benefits in kind. There were additional allowances to
compensate
for other losses.
106.
Reservists had
previously applied for allowances to cover the additional
costs
of deployment.
The scheme required a Reservist to collate a great deal of
evidence
of personal
earnings and expenditure in the short time available before
deployment.
74
Ministry of
Defence, Operations
in Iraq: Lessons for the Future, December
2003.
75
National
Audit Office, Operation
TELIC – United Kingdom Military Operations in Iraq,
11 December 2003.
76
Ministry of
Defence, Future of
the UK’s Reserve Forces, 7
February 2005.
77
National
Audit Office, Ministry of
Defence: Reserve Forces, 31 March
2006.
21