Anger over £47m of bonuses for MoD staff

Thu Nov 12 2009 17:31:06

Civil servants at the Ministry of Defence shared performance bonuses totalling more than £47 million this year, it has emerged.

The Conservatives said that the figure would anger troops at a time when soldiers serving in Afghanistan are complaining of equipment shortages.

The Ministry of Defence said that the bonuses - going to around 50,000 staff - would average less than £1,000. But there are reports that some senior officials may be receiving as much as £8,000.

The figure emerged in a written reply from defence minister Kevan Jones to shadow defence secretary Liam Fox. Mr Jones revealed that MoD staff received bonuses totalling £47,283,853 in the seven months from April to October this year.

Hazel Hunt, whose son Private Richard Hunt died in August in Helmand Province, said: "They are not delivering and I think it is obscene they have got such bonuses while our troops are being short changed; not only in equipment but also in the fact that my son was barely on £17,000 a year."

The lowest-paid Army privates earn £16,681 a year, with a six-month tax-free operational allowance of £2,380 if they are posted to Afghanistan.

An MoD spokesman said: "These pay awards are met from within salary budget and have no impact on the operational or equipment budget.

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