Skip to main content

Written question asked by Alex Easton (Independent (affiliation)) on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 27 November 2025. It was answered by Louise Sandher-Jones (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 December 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Ulster Defence Regiment: Workplace Pensions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were not eligible for a pension under the terms of service at the time of their employment; and whether the Department has made any assessment of options for retrospective recognition or provision.

Answer

Full time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). Part-time members of the UDR were engaged under different terms to full- time, regular members of the Regiment and were not part of the AFPS. These terms were similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.

The Ministry of Defence values greatly the contribution of all those who served within the UDR, but there are no plans to review the pension entitlement for part-time members.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
94540
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Workplace pensions Ulster Defence Regiment
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk