The legal duty under the Armed Forces Covenant does not extend to Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed in a written answer to the Conservative peer Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Baroness Fraser had asked whether the Covenant extends to RFA personnel. Answering for the government, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker, called the service a unique asset. “The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a unique asset to Government, which we continue to invest in, working closely across Government to ensure the seafarers who work for the RFA have the employment conditions that reflect their essential work,” he said.
On who the duty covers, Coaker said: “The Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty extends to members of the Regular forces and Reserve forces, as well as Veterans and their families (including the bereaved).” Each of those four groups, he said, is specifically defined in the relevant legislation. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, a civilian-crewed service, does not fall within those categories.
RFA personnel are not excluded from consideration altogether. Coaker said organisations that have signed the Armed Forces Covenant pledge were encouraged to consider the needs of other groups in the wider armed forces community where individual circumstances merited it. “This includes members of the RFA that have seen duty on defined military operations,” he said.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-staffed flotilla owned by the Ministry of Defence that supplies and supports Royal Navy ships at sea, providing fuel, stores, ammunition and aviation support, as well as operating amphibious and hospital vessels. Its personnel are civil servants and merchant sailors rather than commissioned or enlisted members of the armed forces, a status that places them outside the categories the Covenant’s legal duty is written to cover, even though RFA ships and crews routinely deploy alongside the Royal Navy and into operational theatres.
The Armed Forces Covenant sets out the principle that those who serve, or have served, and their families should not be disadvantaged by their service, and the legal duty arising from it requires specified public bodies to have regard to that principle in areas such as healthcare, housing and education. The distinction in Coaker’s answer is between that statutory duty, confined to the defined groups, and the broader spirit of the Covenant, under which signatory organisations may extend support more widely at their discretion.
The status of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary has drawn attention amid wider concern over pay and conditions in the service, which has seen industrial action by its personnel over pay, the first in its history.
Absolute bullshit…again.
Yep, it’s the usual bureaucratic clap trap. They will soon squeal if the RFA are not present.
👍🙃
I’ve gained $17,240 only within four weeks by comfortably working part-time from home. Immediately when I had lost my last business, I was very troubled and thankfully I’ve located this project now in this way I’m in a position to receive thousand USD directly from home. Each individual certainly can do this easy work & make more greenbacks online by visiting
following website—.,.,.,.,.—>>> JobatHome1.Com
Pretty much….
The Government are playing a very dangerous game. Have they asked the RFA personnel if they consider themselves civil servants?
The people of the RFA are members of the Merchant Navy and have been since it was created in 1905. RFA people have died in both world wars and as late as the Falklands War in 1982.
Of course a Government spokesperson would tell me, “You have made a mistake, the Falklands was a Conflict not a War because no declaration of war was ever made”.
Our service men died. RFA men died. RFA ships were given Battle Honours.
The Royal Navy considers and has named the RFA as the fifth arm of the Royal Navy.
The pernickety people are going to destroy the RFA because they will not give 1,000 personnel a pay rise commensurate the the other services.
What will happen then?
I am an RFA Veteran. I have the South Atlantic Medal and one other campaign medal.
Politicians Michael. Very simple…in their minds anyway. They are so busy fighting for their own survival they forget they were elected TO SERVE the people.
The First law of British Poliitics…!
Self Preservation..!
👍🙃
As you too busy shouting at each other and screaming for more money for dinghy diver they have forgotten who voted them into the job..
Still once Reform stuff The King of the North they will start to PANIC and may then remember who votes them at least for a little while..
Outstanding again eh? Tell that to RFA Falklands widow’s. These people are beyond contempt.
It’s none of these comments that’s ‘ve read so far.. it’s a simple explanation of the law. Whether the law should change to include RFA is another question. (In my view definitely yes) But let’s be clear what this is saying.
An unpopular take, I imagine, but a correct one. By definition, merchant sailors aren’t armed forces, even if they’re effectively being utilised in the same way to make up hull numbers. It’s ridiculous, but a legal definition from well before the current government.
I do wonder though, aren’t RFA personnel considered RN reservists? Wikipedia seems to think so, but its not an area I have any knowledge of. If so, that would qualify RFA personnel as covered by the Covenant
Disgusting! !!
Were Relying more and more on the RFA and and its Sailors, On the Front Line in the line of fire.!.
Good Example RFA LYME BAY…!
Simply to be Shafted by Some Two bit Politicians on £100000 plus per year With a Very Nice Pension Thank You…!
STARMERS Champagne 🥂 Socialists’
At Work for the Working Class..!
The RFA are Royal Navy Reservists, but not Volunteer ones, as it is a requirement of their role to have a reserve liability.
The RFA is also considered (BR2) to be one of the 5 fighting arms of the Royal Navy.
All RFA retirees are considered Royal Navy Veterans by the MOD, and are eligible for Veterans IDs and Armed Forces Veterans pin badges
The Armed Forces Covenant was explicitly modified (2015 Annual Report P89) to cover them, as well as Merchant Navy Veterans who have served on Active Operations (think Falklands War).
The quibble from the MOD is that the legislation explicitly stated the legal duty covers only Volunteer Reservists and Armed Forces Veterans.
So while serving members of the RFA are excluded, it seems their veterans are not (which is madness).
Who then man’s the Phalanx amd 30mm. weapon’s platforms on RFA vessels? Aren’t they potentially servicemen/women of an armed combatant naval support vessel? Or are they weapons classified as defensive only?
RFA personnel are employed on two contracts (both linked ie you can’t quit one, without quitting the other). First contract is the one the politicians go on a out, is to the MOD as a Merchant Mariner (they get offended if you call them Civil Servants). The second contract is to the Royal Navy as a Special Reservist. The latter contract is how the RFA are legal combatants.
Civilian vessels are allowed to be armed as long as their flag state, and the port states they visit are happy with it. So you don’t have to be a Warship to be armed.
RFA’s like the USN’s MSC are defined as Government ships and Auxiliaries and so also are exempt from a lot of the civilian shipping law; though they tend to voluntarily follow it during peace time as it’s seen as best practice.
The permanent weapons fit on the RFA ships is primarily for defense. Ships company crew and maintain all the gpmg, hmg, 30mm, chaff launchers, towed torpedo decoys etc.
If the threat level is assessed as going to be higher than what is permanently fitted to the ship can handle, then the RN will enhance it with some of their own kit and people.
Most commonly Merlin or Wildcat helicopters; Force Protection/Boarding teams; and Phalanx CIWS.
Many thanks for this explanation.
Phalanx is manned by RN personnel on RFA from NAS 1700. 30mm and 20 mm are RFA manned as to are HMG (when there enough Aimee’s and maintenance officer with the HMG adquals).
Thanks…
There is no legitimate excuse for this. RFA is one example, but there are numerous others of people who are technically civilians on the public payroll, but still obliged to deploy to disagreeable places and be put in potential harm’s way. There are also people serving in the armed forces who have wangled desk jobs and are never seriously inconvenienced by their roles. The legal duty is confined to ‘serving’ personnel purely because the government acknowledges that duty only grudgingly and seeks to scope it as narrowly as possible.
And you want to know why people leave the RFA in droves.
Politicians in this country really make me sick. They always remind me of what you tread in…..
Ok, it’s not.
But should it be?
If so, change the law?
RFA personnel go into war zones do they not? So, for me, it seems logical that it should cover them?
What would it actually cost the government?
Are the sponsored reservists driving HETs or crewing the Points included?
Lots of people who aren’t technically service personnel go into war zones (and ‘grey’ zones for that matter). Changing the law in a way that made logical sense would imply a big expansion of that legal obligation, rather than just empty words, so it’s not something a typical politician would ever willingly do.
Government to RFA – GFY
The great thing about the RFA is that by its very nature, (not being classed as warships), they are allowed to dock in many ports that would not allow the Royal Navy to enter.
For far too long, UK governments of all colours, have used the RFA when RN assets weren’t available, but have failed to reward them accordingly. If there isn’t a change soon, I suspect that it won’t be long before we have no more merchant seafarers prepared to serve in the RFA and then the government will be well and truly f**ked.
Interesting post. Funny not being classified as “warships” yet clearly they directly support warship operations and have limited armaments in peace time. Almost a “quasi-warship”. And the Bays supporting autonomous usvs? Are they now not a “warship of sorts”? With the River OPVs, are they classified as a “warship” or just a “patrol boat”?
They are all classed as “Liquid Assets”.
See what I did there ? 😎
You have a good point. The Rivers have visited several countries where UK warships might be a little less welcome. It not the formal classification that matters as much as how the ships are seen..
Under Labour is the a covernant for ex terrorists? they seem pretty well protected buy civil rights legal aid ECHR, just asking.