MOD consultant's £84k bonus 'insult' to frontline troops - MP

3.25.00pm GMT Wed 27th Jan 2010

A Ministry of Defence (MOD) consultant has received a bonus payment of over £84,500 - for cutting down on departmental waste - new figures show.

The bonus, which is over four times the average salary of a frontline soldier, was revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question by Withington MP, John Leech, to the Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth.

The figures also show that the average consultant's bonus in the department has more than quadrupled in the last five years - at a time of rising concerns over inadequate equipment for service personnel in Afghanistan.

John Leech said:

"I am frankly appalled that the average MOD consultant gets twice as much in bonuses a year as a British soldier earns for fighting on the frontline in Afghanistan and elsewhere. These bonuses are an insult to the brave men and women who are putting their lives on the line amid budget cuts, lack of equipment and government mismanagement."

"As Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were waging an illegal war in Iraq, MOD consultants were seeing their bonuses quadruple; in my view that is utterly unacceptable."

Lib Dem defence spokesman Willie Rennie added:

'People will find it hard to accept that highly paid officials deserve extravagant bonuses.

'These sums certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth when you consider we have frontline troops earning so little.'

<ENDS>

Notes to Editors:

1. Written answers and statements, 26 January 2010

Department: Ministry of Defence

Subject: Departmental Pay

John Leech (Manchester, Withington, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) average and (b) highest non-consolidated performance related payment in cash terms was for senior civil servants in his Department, in each of the last five years.

Bob Ainsworth (Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence; Coventry North East, Labour)

Average and highest non-consolidated performance related payments made to senior civil servants in the Ministry of Defence over the last five years are provided in the following tables.

Permanent senior civil servants

Performance year

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

Paid in financial year

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

Average

5,233

6,511

7,127

8,030

8,177

Highest

12,500

16,000

17,600

(1)17,000

15,000

(1) Payment of £22,500 was available this year but not awarded.

Senior fixed term appointees

£

Performance year

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

Paid in financial year

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

Average

7,243

7,850

20,994

25,041

31,890

Highest

14,340

12,546

50,000

50,000

84,563

2. Further information: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246263/Outrage-Ministry-Defence-official-pockets-obscene-84-500-bonus-soldiers-paid-pittance.html#ixzz0dp9ifDRN