The head of the UK armed forces is sitting on an extraordinary pension pot worth an estimated £4.5million.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, is in line for an annual income of around £200,000 and a £470,000 lump sum when he retires.
On top of his salary of £295,000-£300,000 – up some £20,000 from 2022-23 – Sir Tony’s perks also cost the taxpayer £114,500 in 2023-24. That was an increase from £94,900 previously.
They are thought to include a grace-and-favour residence, although the MoD did not give details.
The huge package, revealed in the latest departmental accounts, comes amid fears about funding for the UK’s military and criticism of squalid accommodation.
Keir Starmer has committed to hiking defence funding to 2.5 per cent of GDP with alarm raised about the growing threat from Russia and China, but not given any timescale.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, is in line for an annual income of around £200,000 and a £470,000 lump sum when he retires
The huge package, revealed in the latest departmental accounts, comes amid fears about funding for the UK’s military and criticism of squalid conditions for troops
The latest MoD accounts show the CETV – the future cost to the taxpayer of servicing Sir Tony’s gold-plated retirement – has swelled to £4.54million
Sir Tony’s total remuneration package in 2022-23 was worth an eye-watering £1.1million, largely due to a massive £740,000 upgrade to the valuation of the 58-year-old’s pension pot.
The latest accounts show the CETV – the estimated total cost to the taxpayer of servicing his gold-plated retirement – has swelled to £4.54million.
He is due an income, in today’s prices, of £195,000-£200,000 when he retires, putting him well into the top rate of tax.
Sir Tony will also be able to take a lump sum of £465,000-£470,000.
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: ‘There has been no significant increase in pensions payments to the Chief of Defence Staff role.’
‘The pension benefits disclosed represent the accrued pension value in line with an individuals’ defined pension scheme rights.’
Sources suggested Sir Tony’s benefits in kind were in line with the previous year, despite the accounts showing a sharp rise.
Significant salary rises from when he was promoted to the top job in November 2021 are largely responsible for the expansion of Sir Tony’s pension pot.
Under the Armed Forces Pension terms from the time Sir Tony joined, personnel can accrue a pension of up to four-sevenths of their highest annual salary in the final three years of service. There are no contributions and pensions can be taken from age 55, or deferred and actuarily increased.
Sir Tony’s total package in 2022-23 was worth an eye-watering £1.1million, largely due to a massive £740,000 upgrade to the valuation of the 58-year-old’s pension pot
They are also entitled to a tax-free lump sum worth three times that annual pension.
The scheme was revised and made less generous in 2015.
Sir Tony will not receive any immediate extra payment as a result of the higher CETV estimate.
But there have been mounting concerns about the sustainability of public sector pensions in the long term.
