Legal action launched against MOD for alleged discrimination over housing costs
More than 2,500 military personnel are taking legal action against the Ministry of Defence for alleged discrimination over housing costs, according to their lawyers.
The legal action is being led by law firm Leigh Day, which said tens of thousands of personnel had been discriminated against based on their age and marital status, characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010.
In 2021, the MOD was warned in a report by the National Audit Office that the way it charged some groups of military personnel for Single Living Accommodation (SLA) might be viewed as discriminatory.
Rules around who pays SLA and who does not currently mean that Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel who are married never have to pay SLA charges, while those in the Army who are married and over the age of 37 are excused costs too.
This means those people who benefit from the free accommodation are effectively paid more, which Leigh Day says is unfair and potentially unlawful, as the MOD uses marital status and age to determine who benefits.
Ryan Bradshaw, the lawyer leading the case, told Forces News: "This is in relation to the MOD's allowances policy in respect of Single Living Accommodation.
"What we say is, those rules are discriminatory because they're based on people's age and marital statuses, and therefore require challenge."
Under current SLA rules in the Army, soldiers aged 36 or under and who are married but are required to live in camp away from the marital home are required to pay the cost of their military accommodation, while those aged 37 and over are not.
This, according to Leigh Day, is likely to be unlawful as it means those under 37 are having to pay something others do not.
However, in other areas, the MOD has certain exemptions under the Equality Act based around a person’s age.
This allows them to offer certain roles and jobs in the Armed Forces to people under a certain age, and it also allows the MOD to release people from military service upon reaching certain ages.
But Leigh Day, which said it expects the MOD to argue it has exemptions from the Equality Act, said it had seen the MOD "do it in other cases, and we have seen them lose in other cases where they have attempted to rely on these exemptions."
Mr Bradshaw added: "We are quite confident that if we seek to enforce the Equality Act in a sensible and limited manner to the Armed Forces, that we'll be successful.
"We hope that at least some people within the MOD would recognise that what we are doing isn’t trying to hurt them, it's trying to improve what they are offering to service personnel.
"And if they can do that, that’s going to increase retention and satisfaction in the Armed Forces more generally, which we know is a major issue."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "Whilst we are unable to comment on individual letters of complaint, the Defence Secretary has made the provision of higher quality accommodation for service personnel a personal priority, reflecting the selfless commitment our Armed Forces make to the nation.
"That's why our Modern Accommodation Offer gives more flexibility to personnel, backed by an extra £200m investment. This is in top of over £4bn to upgrade accommodation and build new living quarters for our service personnel over the next decade.
"Our service personnel also receive subsidised accommodation as part of their package, and we remain committed to improving the support we provide."
The news comes after the Ministry of Defence got itself in hot water with service personnel over plans to change the way it provides subsidised military accommodation.
The sweeping changes were meant to be implemented later this month, however the MOD has now put the plan on hold after a petition was launched calling for a review into the new policy.
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
