THE TELEGRAPH: Civil servants at the Ministry of Defence have been paid £47 million in performance bonuses so far this year.
The MoD said the bonuses were paid for “exceptional performance” but the disclosure came as the Government faced increasing pressure over the lack of equipment for troops serving in Afghanistan.
There are 85,000 civil servants at the MoD — one for every two active soldiers, the highest level among the Allied nations — and about 50,000 will get a performance bonus this year.
Troops serving in Afghanistan would be “aghast” at the payments, the Conservatives said last night.
The bonus figure covers just the first seven months of the financial year. The MoD said yesterday that the bonuses would average less than £1,000, but a senior civil servant could pick up £8,000. Last year, the department had 95 employees who were on a salary of more than £100,000. A private in the Army can be paid as little as £16,681 a year, with a bonus of £13 a day for serving in Afghanistan.
British troops are dying in Afghanistan at a rate not seen since the Falklands conflict and polls indicate that voters are turning against the mission.
A total of 232 British service personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001. Commanders have said that some of those deaths could have been avoided if there had been more helicopters available.
The bonus payments have risen sharply even as the MoD’s record has come in for growing criticism. In 2003-04, total bonus payments were £24.9 million. >>> Rebecca Lefort and James Kirkup | Thursday, November 12, 2009
