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Reserves incentive for civil servants
08 October 2012
The incentive, which will apply in all central government departments from the beginning of December onwards, will allow civil servants to attend training without using up their annual leave entitlement.
Hammond said the move was part of a "new deal" for reservists.
"Make the commitment, turn up regularly to train and be prepared to deploy and in return, we promise to equip you, we promise to train you and we promise to fund you," he told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
"That is a bargain that has been broken on both sides in the past and which has to be kept by both sides in the future."
The trained strength of the UK's reserve forces is set to double to 30,000 personnel by 2020, and the paid leave move is one of several planned to help meet the manning target.
"Success will depend on the commitment of employers and government is one of the biggest," said Hammond, calling on industry to follow the government's lead.
"Let's ask Britain's biggest companies to join with us, to demonstrate that they, too, are reserve-friendly employers," he said. "Let's build a society where being in the reserves, and employing reservists, are both worn proudly as badges of honour."
Hammond also used the speech to pledge £5m towards the improvement and refurbishment of facilities and the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Headley Court.
HAVE YOUR SAY
08 October 2012
Having watched the whole speech I was more than somewhat disapointed,especialy his description of force 2020.His list of equipment to be operated by our forces held nothing new of note. Indeed he speaks of the T45 as the T25,so can't even get that right, (ok a minor mistake) thing is that they have all now been built and at sea one way or another. Astute submarines,still only seven in number and production slowed down to facilitate the gap between their production ending and the start of the 'successor' programme.Could have built another boat,seven is a bare minimum.T26 was mentioned in passing.
He did at least mention our 'cutting edge' carriers in the plural on two occasions,so hopefully that was a considered remark,also JSF flying off them.
As far as the RAF is concerned,all the aircraft he mentioned excepting the JSF and A400,are either in service now or coming into service.
The Army's equipment was barely mentioned except that it will have £5bn invested in armoured vehicles.
Now I am happy at the equipment we are getting,but there is just not enough of it,and placing so much reliance on the reservists is IMHO a great mistake. They can never replace full time proffessional soldiers however much is spent on them,and I do not mean that in any sort of derogatory manners.
michael - notts
08 October 2012
I would be very intrigued to know what the %age split is between private/public sector reservists. All very well saying civil servant reservists will get an extra 10 days special leave if they sign up but what about those reservists not in government employ? They will still have to use their leave if they wish to join the reserves.
To allow widespread coverage of this 'new deal' for reservists, private sector employers would need to be compensated for every reservist they employ so that all reservists can enjoy this benefit, not just civil servants.
AW Employee - Yeovil