Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what schemes his Department has introduced to recognise the long service of non-military personnel.

The mechanism by which civil servants are recognised for their long and meritorious service is the Imperial Service Medal, issued by the Cabinet Office. It is presented to selected civil servants who complete at least 25 years' service upon their retirement, to certain grades. In the Ministry of Defence, this is skill zone or Pay Band E grades.

Within the Ministry of Defence, there are likely to be schemes at unit level that are administered locally. A list of any such schemes are not held centrally.