58% Of Troops Are Not Satisfied With Forces Life

It has been revealed that well over half of service personnel are not satisfied with military life. 

The annual Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shows that 4% fewer personnel are satisfied since last year.

Satisfaction with pay has also decreased over time.

The Key Points

• 58% of personnel are either neutral or unsatisfied with service life in general, with 42% satisfied. 
• 33% of personnel are satisfied with their basic rate of pay, compared to 34% last year.
• 23% of personnel are satisfied with their recruitment and retention pay compared to 26% last year.
• 27% are satisfied with their pension benefits compared to 30% in 2016, while there's been a 29% drop in satisfaction since 2010. The MoD has pointed to reforms made to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme in 2015 as one possible cause of the 29% drop in satisfaction since 2010 with pensions.
• Satisfaction with the standard of service accommodation has fallen four percentage points in the past year, with just under half (49%) now reporting that they are satisfied.
• Around a third of personnel are satisfied with the standard (36%) and availability (34%) of major equipment. This represents a drop from 39% and 38% last year, respectively.
• Most personnel are less satisfied with their senior leaders than two years ago.
• 74% of personnel are proud to be in their service, unchanged from 2016. There's also been a two percentage point increase from 2016 in personnel who say their family is proud of them serving in the Armed Forces.
• The majority of personnel agree that they are treated fairly at work (71%). The proportion reporting that they have been subject to bullying, discrimination or harassment in the last 12 months is unchanged at just over one in 10 (13%), while the majority of personnel are aware of how the Service Complaints Ombudsman can help them with a complaint about bullying, discrimination or harassment.
• The survey took into account responses from around 12,500 trained regular UK Armed Forces personnel. 

Analysis - Morale

The number of personnel who see morale as being low has increased since 2016, driven by the Army (up 12%) and changes in the Royal Marines (up 15%).

A full page in the report is dedicated to changes in morale in the Royal Marines, which is a key concern.

It comes after it was revealed last month that the Corps will lose 200 posts as the Royal Navy reshuffles its staff, amid a staffing crisis before the completion of the first of two new aircraft carriers.

In the past year, the Royal Marines have seen large decreases in morale and satisfaction, with less than half not satisfied with service life.

Crucially, satisfaction has fallen 11 percentage points for non-commissioned ranks, to 40%.

The overall figures leave Britain's elite amphibious force with similar percentages to the other three services (RAF: 43%, Army: 42%, Royal Navy: 40%).

It's important to note, however, that despite a decrease in the proportion of Royal Marines rating service morale as high, it has the largest proportion overall amongst the three services (18%).

Accommodation

Decreased satisfaction with service accommodation over the past year has been driven by changes with Single Living Accommodation (SLA), particularly amongst other ranks (excluding in the Royal Navy):

Almost a quarter (23%) of personnel who bought their own home, meanwhile, did so because of poor standards.

The Big Picture

The government is yet to pass comment on the report and the Ministry of Defence is bound by 'purdah', the pre-election period in which civil servants can't make announcements about any government initiatives.

A Downing Street quote was carried in the Mirror after last year's report, however, which stated:

"We continue to recognise - and we are grateful to - members of the Armed Forces for their contribution. We value their views and we use this survey as one of the tools to review policies and spending plans for the future." 

"We will consider all the findings in it and see where we go from there." The MoD, meanwhile, said at the time:

"We realise our Armed Forces do a challenging job and that's why this government has done more than any before it to ensure they feel valued and that their contribution is recognised.

"We enshrined the Armed Forces Covenant in law and have introduced a raft of measures to improve service life for personnel and their families."

Critics, however, will highlight a drop of 18 percentage points in satisfaction with service life since a peak of 61% in 2009, and the falls in satisfaction with accommodation, equipment and pay, and point to cost-cutting measures implemented by successive governments since 2010.

If you'd like to take a look at the report, click here.