We have received a number of comments which rest on the assumption that we have been treated in the same way as the judges and the firefighters. That is not so.
The new schemes adopted across the public sector in 2015 were very different for each profession, as were the transitional arrangements for each scheme. No one has challenged the right of the Government to introduce new schemes, they have simply challenged the transitional arrangements in those particular cases – and in the fire fighters’ case it is perhaps noteworthy that these were more generous to older members than were the Armed Forces transitional arrangements and that this generosity came at the expense of the new scheme.
Having previously sought advice on this we were not and still are not convinced that the firefighters results read across to the Armed Forces. That is why we are monitoring the situation – in common with many other public service unions and representatives. Once the smoke begins to clear we will re-evaluate and take further legal advice – and will decide what we do in the light of the final outcome, the Government’s resulting solution and what we think will achieve the best results for the whole Armed Forces community.
That is the sensible thing to do; we are a self-funding organisation and we are not going to empty our coffers on what could very well be an ill-founded campaign.
