A Monmouth soldier, currently on a tour of duty in war torn Helmand Province in Afghanistan, has not been paid his full wages due to a mix up in the Ministry of Defence. And, The Beacon can exclusively reveal, the soldier's family, living in Monmouth, has been left with just £400 live on. Both The Beacon and the town's MP., David Davies, were told of the family's plight and Mr Davies has promised immediate action to help the distressed family. The MP said he was 'utterly disgused' after the Ministry of Defence left the woman, whose husband is a serving Royal Marine, with just £400 to live on. Because of Army protocol, the woman is unable to be named or identified in any way. She spoke to Mr Davies after her attempts to rectify the matter proved fruitless. Her husband is currently serving on the frontline in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The mother-of-three was due to receive approximately £2,000 at the end of February. This included her husband's basic wage and his Longer Separated Service Allowance (LSSA). However, she has received just £1, 400 with a further amount of £600 still outstanding. The woman told The Beacon "After contacting the welfare department I was told that hundreds of others were in the same boat as a result of problems with a new computer system used for calculating wages and that "I was lucky to have been paid anything at all." "I was also told that they officials could only deal with my husband but, of course he has no means of contacting the HR department from a trench in the Helmand Province. "When he does get back to a base access to a phone will be rationed so he will have to spend his time phoning an IT department instead of speaking to his children." I wouldn't mind if someone was doing something to prevent this happening again but Ihave no idea if the system will work next month or the month after and it looks as though we are not going to be able to get our own money for months". Mr Davies said: "Through no fault of her own this lady has had to borrow money from friends and relatives to feed her children while her husband risks his life in Afghanistan. "Government Ministers should hang their heads in shame. They know that there are problems with their IT systems yet they don't seem interested in helping the innocent families affected." I am absolutely disgusted at the way this family have been treated and have contacted the MoD to demand that their money is paid as a matter of urgency." This is simply the latest in a long series of government IT blunders. Billions have been overpaid and underpaid through Child and family Tax Credits. The new NHS IT system is around £14billion over budget, and now there is chaos in the MoD after their new system was installed. "Companies have been making millions of pounds by installing IT systems which don't work. The government should get a grip."
