Challenge to MoD job plan fails

Union officials argued the scheme breached civil service rules

A union has failed in its attempt to halt a restructuring at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which it says could lead to the loss of 5,000 civilian jobs.

The Prospect union wanted a judicial review, saying the terms of an early release scheme were "unlawful" because of the level of severance pay offered.

But the MoD argued that it was seeking to give volunteers wanting to leave "maximum flexibility" to do so.

The High Court rejected the call for a review of the scheme.

'Clear conclusion'

Justice Wyn William said he had "reached the clear conclusion that this claim for judicial review must fail".

Prospect, which represents 16,000 defence professionals, maintained the MoD's early release scheme was "unlawful" on the grounds it only offered lower "flexible" severance pay.

The MoD's department-wide voluntary early release scheme was launched in 2005 in connection with the civil service-wide reductions required under the 2004 Spending Review.

The cost in severance payments in 2006-07 was £17m.

Union officials claimed that the scheme was unlawful on the grounds that it only offered to pay cheaper "flexible" severance payments.

The union claimed that if it had won the court case then the MoD would have had to revise the existing release scheme and its plans for achieving staffing reductions.

Prospect's case was contested by the Secretary of State for Defence. Prior to the judge's ruling, the union had said that its action would have a major impact across the civil service whatever the outcome.

The MoD has said its restructuring is designed to free up funds for military operations and that it was obliged to ensure "best value for money" when paying people to leave.