16.1 |
The welfare of Service Personnel
“The way to
bring the covenant back into balance was to make sure we
were
expending
sufficient resources on looking after the legitimate needs of
individuals,
soldiers
and their families in terms of their pay allowances, accommodation,
and the
equipment …
you would want to give these people.
“That’s
where I think we were deficient. That’s where we had to work quite
hard
to get
it back in balance. I know I said in 2006 the army was running hot.
That is
correct … I
think we were getting quite close to a seizing-up moment in
2006.”98
151.
The Inquiry
asked Gen Dannatt whether work to bring the military covenant
back
into
balance should not have begun earlier.99
He told the
Inquiry that he had no criticism
of his
predecessor, and that it was:
“… often
easier to start something at the start of an appointment when you
have
had the
chance to survey the landscape … and coming from the position
of
Commander‑in-Chief
… with time to go round the Army, [I] could sense both
at
home and
abroad the pressures building on soldiers and their families and
deciding
something
had to be done.”
152.
Mr Browne’s
Private Secretary wrote to No.10 on 9 October, setting out
proposed
new
arrangements for supporting Service Personnel on
operations.100
The letter
reported
that, to
reflect the current, high operational tempo and provide an
immediate boost
to the
lowest paid Service Personnel, Mr Browne had agreed with Mr Gordon
Brown,
the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the Government would introduce a
tax-free
Operational
Allowance of £2,400 for all Service Personnel who completed a
six-month
tour in
either Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans or certain other operations.
Proportional
amounts
would be paid to those who completed shorter tours. The Allowance
would
be backdated
to 1 April 2006.
153.
The MOD had
considered offering tax-free pay while on operations, but
had
concluded
that this would not target the lowest paid and would be difficult
to administer.
154.
The letter
also advised that the MOD would discuss the scope for abating
Council
Tax charges
for Service Personnel deployed on operations with the Department
of
Communities
and Local Government (DCLG). The failure of Local Authorities to
exercise
discretion
on those charges was a “regular complaint”.
155.
The letter
also advised that the free telephone call allowance would be raised
from
20 to 30
minutes a week.
98
Public
hearing, 28 July 2010, pages 20-21.
99
Public
hearing, 28 July 2010, page 98.
100
Letter
PS/Secretary of State [MOD] to Phillipson, 9 October 2006, ‘A
Package for Service Personnel
on Operations’.
29