informationReserves in the Future Force 2020:Valuable and ValuedThe Defence Secretary, PhilipHammond, has published the WhitePaper ‘Reserves in the Future Force:Valuable and Valued’ that sets outthe plans to sustain and grow ourReserve <strong>Forces</strong>.Fundamental to this, is improving theoffer to Reservists, their families and theiremployers.Reserves make an essential contributionto national security. In future theircontribution to Defence capability willincrease. They will become an integratedpart of the Whole Force required foralmost all operations, both at home andabroad.To do this the MOD is growing thenumber of Reserves to 34,900 across allthree Services by 2018, and is investingan additional £1.8 billion over ten years.Delivering Defence’s vision for Future<strong>Forces</strong> 2020 and adoption of the WholeForce concept requires a new approachto how the MOD equips, supports anddeploys Reserves.The measures in the White Paperinclude:• For Reservists – Investing in high qualitytraining, increasing their pay througha paid annual leave entitlement,introducing access to the <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Forces</strong>Pension Scheme, providing moremodern equipment, better access towelfare support and health services.This will bring greater similarities withRegular <strong>Forces</strong> where appropriate. TheMOD will continue to recognise thedifference between the two <strong>Forces</strong> andsupport this• Restructuring the tax-free annualTraining Bounty to better recognisecommitment, encourage retentionand reward the appropriate level ofcapability• For employers of Reservists – The MODwill seek an open relationship tailoredto meet the needs of different sizesand types of employers, based onpredictability of Reservist training anddeployment and mutual benefit. Thiswill include working together to accreditthe skills and training Reservists gainduring Service with recognised civilianqualifications. This open relationshipwill be tailored to different needs; forexample, for Small and Medium sizeemployers (SMEs) the MOD will offeradditional financial incentives; establisha National Relationship ManagementScheme by April 2014 made up ofleading supportive employers from thepublic and private sector; and introducea new Employer Recognition Scheme,building on the Corporate <strong>Covenant</strong>• Introducing new legislation through theDefence Reform Bill to use Reservesfor the full range of tasks that theUK <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Forces</strong> may be asked toundertake; rename the TerritorialArmy the ‘Army Reserve’ to reflect thesignificant changes to its role and fullintegration; provide Reservists withadditional protection by direct access tothe Employment Tribunal (exempt fromthe two-year qualifying period) wherethey have been unfairly dismissed due totheir Service; and to provide additionalfinancial incentives to SMEs• An online form is now available forReservists to report any instancesof perceived disadvantaged in theworkplace as a result of their service.This will enable Defence to betterunderstand the scale of the problem.The changes set out in the White Paperare substantial and require a cultural shiftwithin the <strong>Armed</strong> <strong>Forces</strong> and as a Nationwhere all recognise the contributiona Reservist, their families and theiremployers make.White Paper changes and Servicespecific impact – For the Royal Navyand Royal Air Force:• <strong>Forces</strong> structures of the Royal Navy,Royal Marines and Royal Air ForceReserves will remain largely unchanged;they will continue to be mobilised on anindividual basis or as small teams• They will also continue with their currentannual training commitment, for theRoyal Navy the average is 24 days,and 35 days for the Maritime Reserve.The RAuxAF will also continue with anaverage commitment of 35 days• However, they will increase in size (asstated above) and capability.Also published are the details of how theArmy Reserve will be structured and basedin the future. This covers the structure of thefully integrated Army Reserve and whereReserve Units will be located; to optimisemanning and pairing with the Regular Unitsthey will be paired in line with the Army2020 concept. This completes the plans forthe Army 2020 design.The White Paper was informed by a publicconsultation, which ran from November2012 to January 2013. The consultationreceived over 3,000 responses from arange of groups including Reservists, theirfamilies, employers and Regulars. Key FactSheets on all the measures in the WhitePaper and a Future Reserves 2020 leafletcan be found on our website www.nff.org.uk.Personnel can find more information onthe Defence Intranet, within the DefenceInternal Brief 2013DIB/39 that includesa helpful Q&A and a background to theWhite Paper.
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