MoD Bonuses Must Stop

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Graphic courtesy of the Wardman Wire

Quite a few bloggers have posted on the subject of bonuses for Ministry of Defence Staff. In the first 6 months of this year £47 million was issued to MoD civil servants in bonuses.

LastoftheFew draws out attention to the numbers involved between the services and MoD, while VotR as usual doesn't hold back. Radio Free Britain has a couple of posts - you can read one here.

Today I've been trying to find information on the UK government's website about bonuses for MoD civil servants but I have as yet to find a word. Of course that's not to say something isn't there because my search skills aren't the best although I seem to manage reasonably well on all but government sites.

There was one remark from Alan Johnson on the BBC today which caused me concern.

He added: "Let's be clear - our priority always has to be the soldiers at the front line for equipment, for pay, for conditions."

But he said civil servants also had to go "into the front line" - for instance, to develop techniques to protect troops from improvised bombs.

"When they do that my understanding is they work 17, 18 hours in Afghanistan," he added.

"They don't get overtime for that - they get a bonus to compensate."

Really he ought to know better than make such statements as all they do is add fuel to the fire. Let me explain. Civil servants are involved in developing techniques to protect troops from improvised bombs and other security matters, along with military staff and at times private specialists. That is a fact.

On the occasion of any civil servant doing a 'site visit' to Afghanistan he would be accompanied by military colleague(s) who work closely with him on a day to day basis. They may all work 17 or 18 hours in Afghanistan but Mr Johnson clearly shows the difference in wage structure between the military and MoD civil servants. He says the civil servants get a bonus when deployed to theatres (when of course he's wrong - they receive 'operational allowances') but what do the military personnel get? Nothing. They will be working alongside the civil servant knowing that person will receive a bonus for the work they're both/all doing.

Really puts a damper on his first sentence doesn't it? In fact it proves what he says in a lie.

These bonuses need to be stopped right now. If anyone works extra hours they should be paid overtime. Nobody within the MoD civil servants or any government department should be paid a 'performance' bonus unless they do truly exceptional work.

I can hear the civil service union shouting: 'We have to pay bonuses to stop these extremely intelligent and capable people from leaving to work in the private sector.' Let them go I say. We're spending enough money putting people through university courses to surely have enough intelligent and capable individuals to replace them.

What is required is a thorough overhaul of the Ministry of Defence. They are stuck in a time warp, endearing at times but cumbersome and I would doubt if process systems are any more efficient today than they were 40 years ago. The graph above shows what little change there has been in the department's thinking - chop the TA to pay bonuses. Whatever happened to old fashioned sense and fairness?

It is an insult to the people of this country that the Westminster government are attempting to lie their way out of spending billions on bonuses. Why don't they just tell the truth - by paying bonuses they keep basic salaries lower which helps when planning pension provisions. Then they could say they're really saving us, the taxpayer, money in the long term.

They say most bonuses are less than £1,000 as if that amount is sweetie money. £1000 would pay for the heating and lighting for a pensioner's home for about a year, so it's certainly not a modest sum to me and many others.

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