As covered widely in the media, the Government published its Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on 2 June. It contains 62 recommendations and can be read in full here.
There are no recommendations that relate directly to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). However, Recommendation 14 (page 70) states:
“In the current strategic and fiscal situation:
- There should be no further reduction in the number of Regulars across the three Services
- The number of Active Reserves should be increased by 20% when funding allows.”
The AFPS has a role to play in sustaining operationally effective Armed Forces and supporting retention. Our Sep 24 submission to the SDR team spelled this out and there is no suggestion the Review team disagreed. The Review further states its recommendations are aligned with the goals of the 2023 Haythornthwaite Review into Armed Forces incentivisation which remains the basis for the MoD’s longer term work in the people (and pension) arena.
We will continue to engage with the MoD as they develop this work with our guiding principles / Pillars of the AFPS uppermost in our minds. We’ll keep you posted.
If you would like to read a summary of the SDR you can do so here.
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