It is not practical to make an accurate estimate of the cost of making pension awards to those service personnel who served less than 22 years (16 years for officers) reckonable service prior to 1975.
Given the similarities with other schemes, the cost of providing pensions for pre-1975 service on a retrospective basis across the public sector would be prohibitive—exceeding tens of billions of pounds.
(2) if he will review the criteria for entitlement to a full armed forces pension for people who retired from the armed forces before 1975; and if he will make a statement;
(3) when the criteria for entitlement to a full armed forces pension for people who retired from the armed forces before 1975 were last reviewed; and if he will make a statement.
There remains no realistic prospect that this or any Government could afford to address these public sector pension legacy issues. For further details I refer the hon. Member to the speech given by the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces in the Adjournment Debate on 31 January 2007, Official Report, column 338-340, which clearly set out the legislative and policy background to this matter.
There are therefore no plans to review the criteria for entitlement for an armed forces pension.
This information is not held. If an individual had been invalided from the armed forces with a disability attributable to or aggravated by service they would have been considered for an armed forces pension. Should the disability arise after the individual had left the armed forces, and it is proved that the disablement was caused by service, they may be eligible to receive an award under the War Pension Scheme.
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.