Massive JPA Underpayments revealed in Hansard!
Armed Forces: Pay
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been (a) overpaid and (b) underpaid to military personnel stationed in (i) Afghanistan and (ii) elsewhere through the Joint Personnel Administration system in 2007. [154548]
Derek Twigg: The number of over and underpayments resulting from Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system errors in 2007 can be provided, although the information requested for Afghanistan and elsewhere is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The figures are:
Month Overpaid Underpaid Total
January 161 1,383 1,544
February 70 0 70
March 229 54 283
April 13,908 252 14,160
May 3,340 1,181 4,521
June 0 90 90
July 2,978 416 3,394
August(1) 0 51,917 51,917
(1) Figures for August are subject to revision and refinement.
The increase in the number of overpayments in April was due primarily to transitional data errors from the Army legacy systems where elements were not picked up as expected by the JPA system. Records were corrected in time for the May payroll.
In August 35,553 incorrect payments of £3.00 were made to the discontinued RN and Royal Marines Dependants’ Fund. The error has been corrected and the money will be re-credited to pay accounts in October.
In addition 16,364 underpayments of Home to Duty Travel claims for RN reservists occurred. The error has been corrected and the claims have reprocessed for payment in September.