ATG:-
Chug - Officers are not eligible for AIPs.
Thanks for the confirmation. A pity perhaps, as the effect might be said to divide and conquer. It seems that command is now vested in the HMT, which can override the CoC that approved these payments, and in the Courts that you see as the way to resolve the issue.
So what is the point of the UK Services? They might as well be privatised, or the work contracted out as franchises to companies subject to those very same controls.
Of course public money must be safeguarded and strictly supervised. That is exactly what happened here apparently. The fact that HMT considers that the MOD/Services fell short in that requirement means that it has an issue with those bodies, not the people who received the increased pay in all good faith.
If the future of the UK Armed Forces is seen as one of entirely civilian practice, albeit in uniform, then my advice would be at all costs to avoid sending them into harms way, lest the last man or woman leaves the lights on, incurring yet more cost!