“Many of you have been voicing your understandable concerns / frustration / anger over reported delays in the issuing of AFPS 15 Remediable Service Statements (RSS) by 1 April 2025 and, for those who have received theirs and made an election, the length of time it is taking for payment adjustments to arrive. We have rightly been asked by many “so what are you are doing about it?”
I am not going to sugar coat this. Nor am I going to deny the scale of the challenge faced by all the Public Service Pensions Schemes which is immense – the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) is no exception. Right from the outset I have stressed to the MoD that the Remedy implementation plan must be resourced to meet the obligations the Department has to AFPS Members; despite this it is clear to us that the RSS issue date deadline of 1 April 25 will not be achieved for all of those affected. This is a MoD prioritisation and resourcing challenge and one I know they are working hard to address. But it is for the MoD to clarify the situation and communicate open and honestly with those affected. I have pressed them to do this in various forums including the Armed Forces Pension Board and will continue to do so. I should be in a position to provide a further update later this month.
Despite what many (but by no means all) of you are advocating, taking legal action against the MoD at this stage would only inject further bureaucratic process and delay. You have every right to be frustrated and every right to criticise our approach should you wish. We are not a union – we seek to influence MoD policy through constructive challenge. That approach seems to have worked in the past: securing Deferred Choice Underpin as the Remedy solution was, I would contend, spearheaded by us.
I would ask that you focus on ensuring that once you have received your own RSS you have all the information you need to make a fully informed decision. And that decision may not be straightforward. We are here to help.
Our AFPS 15 Remedy Sitrep provides the most recent information we have. I will continue to press for an MoD statement to be made as soon as possible and we will of course keep you informed.“
