In the first of a series of monthly columns, TheVeteran.UK Editor Alan Spence talks to Major General Neil Marshall – who dedicated much of his time in the Army developing his “people” skills who these days deploys them to maximise and protect Veterans’ Armed Forces pension benefits, and unite Veterans with pensions they didn’t think they possessed.
Neil Marshall, CEO of the Forces Pension Society, began to subscribe to military ethos and values before the military subscribed to him.
“They turned me down when I was 18, suggesting I got some more experience of life, travel and adventure…
“So I took things in to my own hands working on a sheep farm in the Falklands, followed by some months doing the laundry, amongst other things, on the British Antarctic Survey vessel RRS Bransfield, which put in to Stanley on its way south!”
“These and other experiences and adventures – I was already a keen Nordic skier – gave me a valuable grounding in handling situations and working with people.
“Travelling alone to the South Atlantic and working down there definitely built up my resourcefulness, self-reliance and confidence, all which resonated well with the Army when I was accepted at the second attempt in 1984, and headed for Sandhurst”.
The common thread which runs through most of the roles Neil occupied in the Army can be summed up in one word – ”people”. Whether training, managing or leading them – as individuals, in groups or as huge chunks of the military’s human resource capacity.
In the latter case at one point in his career Neil co-ordinated the Army’s entire global operational commitments as Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations), ranging from Afghanistan to the 2012 London Olympics where many thousands of Armed Forces personnel famously stood in to provide necessary security and others services, such as logistics.
Subsequent postings saw him head up the Higher Command and Staff Course at the UK’s Defence Academy at Shrivenham, where he was responsible for the professional development and assessment of military and other officials to fill UK security appointments worldwide.
And his last posting before retiring from the Army was as senior advisor (Major General) at the United States’ Central Command HQ in Tampa, Florida providing strategic level analytical, operational and policy advice to US and UK senior leaders across Central Command’s huge 20-country area of responsibility from Egypt east through the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Not surprisingly these days his professional life still remains all about people, whether, for example, as a volunteer mentor for the Forces Employment Charity, or in his main role as CEO of Forces Pension Society, which serves as a “pension watch-dog” for the Armed Forces community, guiding, monitoring and advocating on forces’ pensions for its 66,000 members who pay an annual subscription.
Each day he sets out not only to look after the pension interests of his membership, but seek out Veterans who may not even know they are owed a pension from the Ministry of Defence in the first place.
Indeed, the Forces Pension Society is currently orchestrating a UK-wide awareness campaign designed to help unite Veterans with the pensions they are owed.
So what sort of numbers are involved?
“At the moment the figure is around 15,000 unclaimed pensions,” Neil says, “but it’s a fluid figure”.
“Each year more Veterans reach retirement age, qualifying them to apply for their Armed Forces pension, but at the same time every year pensions that have been unclaimed for eight years are written off in what is effectively an accounting exercise, although eligible Veterans can still apply for and receive their pension after that point”.
“That said the current netted out figure of 15,000 is around 2,000 down on two years ago which is encouraging”.
“And for those who successfully claim their pension years after they completed their service the financial pay-out can be substantial,” he says.
He quotes the case of a Veteran who served 12 years to 1988 in the Royal Navy becoming aware that he may have a claim for a pension. “He, indeed, had a claim,” says Neil,” which amounted to a £15,000 lump sum, an annual pension of £5000 a year and three years of back-payments”.
But it’s just not about boosting Veterans’ awareness; it’s also about pressing for changes by the Ministry of Defence in the way in which pension information is disseminated to Armed Forces leavers and Veterans.
“In the spirit of the Armed Forces Covenant which states that no-one should be disadvantaged by dint of having served in the Armed Forces, we are inviting the government to do two things,” says Neil.
“Change the rules so that all Veterans current and future are notified of their pension entitlement and to increase their effort to identify those who have not claimed their pension to date and try to contact them”.
“Things are getting better, but there’s some way to go yet”.
Meanwhile, elsewhere another major issue continues to rear its head – the possible reduction in the level at which tax cuts in on lump sum pension payments.
“This is currently at £268,275, but talk of this being lowered to £100,000 could badly hit Armed Forces retirees and breach the historic promise that they would not pay face tax payments on lump sum pension payments”.
“I accept that the Government faces tough choices on tax revenue decisions in the current climate,” says Neil, but they must accept that the historic promise of a tax-free lump sum was fundamental to the nation’s and the government’s commitment to members of the Armed Forces as enshrined in the Armed Forces Covenant “.
“It goes like this: the promise was made on the basis that that on retirement there would be no tax due on lump sum payments. To pass legislation in the Budget that would change that would break that promise.”
“There’s a principle involved and there’s its practical relevance to retirees: many are faced with starting second careers for a variety of reasons, including the need to continue to earn salaries and support themselves and families. The tax-free lump sum provides essential funding for their transition to civilian life…
“It’s not all that easy at any time, but, say, in your fifties with a young family it can be hard..
“Suddenly being told that the lump sum you had been promised for years to pay off a mortgage to help set up your second career is going to be slashed by tax is very bad news – and a breach of the spirit and content of the Covenant”.
“Also it should be remembered that the tax-free lump sum has traditionally been a significant factor in Armed Force recruitment and retention”.
“Do as you would be done by” has always been Neil’s mantra in dealing with people down the decades – and he’s very much hoping that principle will apply in the Government’s final Budget thinking on Armed Forces pensions”.
“All roads lead to November 26 “ he says.
Trinity is a proud partner of the TheVeteran.UK with two members of the Trinity team on its advisory board. It promotes and affirms working age Veterans to the entire UK employment market and ensure that they themselves are fully aware of the many personal and professional attributes they possess to secure long-term sustainable and fulfilling careers post military service.
Please download your free copy of TheVeteran.UK at: www.theveteran.uk/shop