It was originally designed to review soldiers' careers at six, nine and 12-year points of service and to free up the promotional logjam in the junior NCO ranks of corporal and lance-corporal.
Soldiers who are regarded as excellent in their reports were pressured into leaving the Army "voluntarily" or signing a new "S-type engagement" contract and giving up the prospect of an immediate pension when they left.
[citation needed] A soldier from the Parachute Regiment, Corporal Paul Biddiss, was told in November 1999 by his Company Commander, Major Mike Nott that he would be manning controlled.
To that end, I would like to raise a subject on which I have exchanged many letters and parliamentary questions with the Minster [sic] with responsibility for the armed forces: manning control points.
Such a system should never be used simply to try to move decent, hard-working soldiers on to short-term contracts, under which they enjoy fewer rights and their service can be terminated without the pension entitlement that they richly deserve.
The admission came in a written answer from Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces minister, who said 259 soldiers, who were medically downgraded to a point where they could no longer carry out their roles, had been sacked since 1997.
An unnamed serving soldier told Channel 4 News he believed the Army was forcing servicemen to “jump before they are pushed” in a bid to save money".
[citation needed] The Army was facing a class action by hundreds of former soldiers alleging that they were sacked or forced out under the manning control system to stop them attaining the length of service that would have entitled them to an immediate pension.
[citation needed] The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is facing legal action over plans to cut the pensions of Gurkhas by sacking them three years before they are due to leave the army.
[19][20][21] Prime Minister David Cameron, answering MPs' questions following his Statement on the SDSR, gave the assurance that the resulting reductions in the numbers of service personnel would not involve the use of manning control instead of "proper redundancy payments".
Against a historic background of injustice to some individuals during earlier times of financial stringency and forces downsizing, BAFF welcomed this important confirmation by the PM and looked to the MoD and service authorities to ensure that it is not overlooked in practice.