Exclusive: More than 3,500 personnel file discrimination claim against MOD
More than 3,500 serving members of the UK's Armed Forces have filed a discrimination claim against the Ministry of Defence, BFBS Forces News can exclusively report.
If successful, the MOD could face a total bill exceeding £50m, according to lawyers handling the case.
They say the MOD has potentially broken the law in the way it charges some personnel for Single Living Accommodation (SLA) – the cost of on-base housing – while others are not, based on distinctions of age and marital status.
Under what are thought to be decades-old rules, married personnel over the age of 37 in the British Army have been entitled to a "valuable accommodation allowance" with respect to SLA, while those under the age of 37 and who are not married have not had access to the same benefit.
In the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, similar rules have given married personnel discounts on SLA charges, which unmarried personnel have been excluded from.
Lawyers say this is potentially a straightforward case of discrimination and are hoping to resolve the claims amicably.
Ryan Bradshaw, a partner at the law firm Leigh Day, which represents the military personnel, told BFBS Forces News that the MOD has already stopped providing the SLA charge waivers across the Armed Forces.
He said: "It seems to be pretty straightforward that there's a bar based on age and marital status, so those are two things where you see there could be some injustice here because it's not particularly nuanced.
"We've built a large group of complainants, we have a very senior counsel known as a King's Counsel on board who agrees with our theory of case, and we've now issued more than 3,500 claims and service complaints against the MOD in respect of this."
He added: "We've agreed a process with the MOD in dealing with that bulk volume of service complaints and we are progressing through the courts and internal processes in the hope that we achieve an early resolution without too much dispute between us because, for us, the issues are clear."
In 2021, a National Audit Office (NAO) report concluded that the MOD's housing policy could be considered discriminatory, as younger and unmarried personnel had to pay more for their accommodation. This finding prompted lawyers to consider a potential discrimination case.
Those acting on behalf of the claimants say steps have already been taken by the MOD to address how it can more fairly charge for SLA via the MOD's Modernised Accommodation Offer.
However, despite these steps, thousands of service personnel are still being denied allowances that help cover accommodation costs.
BFBS Forces News understands that personnel already benefiting from reduced SLA charges based on their age and marital status will have these benefits honoured until at least 31 March 2025.
No new personnel have been accepted into the scheme since May 2024.
Mr Bradshaw acknowledged that 3,500 people is a large number, but stressed that they are still open to new claims. "We hope more people will come forward," he said.
He added that interested personnel could visit the law firm's website to learn more and submit a claim.
BFBS Forces News has approached the Ministry of Defence for a comment.
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