Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 13 March 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 11 May 2001. It was answered by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Friday, 11 May 2001 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the recent statement by the Second Sea Lord about the job evaluation system for officers; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the recent statement by the Second Sea Lord about the job evaluation system for officers; and if he will make a statement. [153980] Mr. Spellar: During the course of a discussion with a group of Royal Navy Senior Ratings at HMS Dryad on 28 February 2001, the Second Sea Lord explained that officers below one star rank (Commodore Royal Navy and Brigadier Royal Marines) have not yet been job evaluated. He stated that this was in part due to the career patterns of officers, which can complicate the evaluation process. In addition, the priority has been to complete sufficient job evaluation for non-commissioned personnel to support the introduction of the new pay system, Pay 2000. Prior to its adoption in 1997, the present Job Evaluation system was extensively tested over a wide variety of posts, including over 400 officer posts. It was demonstrated to be a sufficiently robust system for evaluating jobs at all ranks, including officers. Most senior officer posts at two star rank and above have now been evaluated, and a comprehensive programme to evaluate the remaining officer ranks is about to begin. The aim is to complete the first tranche by September 2001 in accordance with the stated requirements of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body.

Secondary information