Days Pay Scheme

What is the Day’s Pay Scheme?

The Day’s Pay Scheme was introduced in 1965. It provides the mechanism, which has been adopted Army-wide, for the collection of subscriptions to Corps or Regimental Charities and Associations from serving officers and soldiers. Since the introduction of Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) in April 2007, Day’s Pay subscriptions have been collected through a ‘Payroll Giving Scheme’. The Payroll Giving Scheme is a Government backed initiative to assist UK charities. JPA deducts monthly subscriptions to the scheme from an individual’s pay before it calculates the individual’s income tax. This provides a direct tax benefit to each subscriber. JPA then distributes cumulative subscriptions, via a major bank, direct to Arms and Corps by means of 12 monthly payments.

How much do I pay?

Since 1st April 2008 the Corps has encouraged all RE soldiers to contribute 110% of one day’s gross pay annually to the Royal Engineers Central Charitable Trust fund (RECCT). In August 2010 Warrant Officers & SNCOs elected to increase their subscription to 115%. This entitled all Other Rank subscribers to automatic membership of the Institution of Royal Engineers (InstRE) and, where applicable, allows them to use the post nominal letters MInstRE and to pursue further professional development. In 2012 all contributions were standardised at 120% however to deliver, in absolute terms, a fair system of subscriptions to the Institution of Royal Engineers, in 2014 rates became: Warrant Officers’ & SNCOs’ 125%; ORs 120%.

Officers contribute 230% of a day’s gross pay annually through the same scheme. The higher subscription level for officers covers their membership to the Institution of Royal Engineers and subscription to the RE HQ Mess. All payments, which are notified through individual pay statements, are deducted monthly and credited by the Army pay system to the RECCT’s nominated bank account.

Since November 2015 Reservists have been able to contribute to the scheme via JPA, at a rate of 12% of a day’s gross pay annually.

Total income received form the RE Day’s Pay Scheme in 2021 was just over one million pounds. This can be broken down as £444,222 donated by officers and £674,469 donated by soldiers.

RE Days Pay Scheme Income 2022 

What is the RE Central Charitable Trust (RECCT) Fund?

The RECCT is a registered charity (number 1003032). The fund operates under a Trust Deed approved by, and registered with, the Charity Commission. The Trust Deed is a legally binding document that specifies the charity’s objectives and how subscriptions and income from other sources can be used to further the objectives (aims) of the charity.

Who controls the RECCT?

The Chief Royal Engineer, Lt Gen Sir Tyrone Urch KBE, presides over elected Trustees who together form the Chief Royal Engineer’s Board. Only Trustees can authorize expenditure against the RECCT. The Corps Treasurer, Major (Retired) Ian Sidebottom, prepares all annual budgets on their behalf. The Corps Finance Committee scrutinizes the annual budgets before submitting them to the Chief Royal Engineer and Trustees for approval.

The activities the charity pursues, and its income and expenditure are also subject to rigorous annual audit. This is currently undertaken by Kreston Reeves & Co LLP, a firm of Chartered Accountants, who specialise in the Charity, Not for Profit, sector. The Chief Royal Engineer’s Board reviews the annual accounts and observations raised by Kreston Reeves & Co LLP. The Corps Treasurer then ensures that a signed copy of the Trustees Annual Report and the Statement of Financial Activities are uploaded onto the Charity Commission’s open website.

What happens when I leave the Army?

When you are discharged from the Army your military pay ceases. At the same time your Day’s Pay Scheme subscriptions automatically stop as they are drawn down from military pay only. However, “Once a Sapper Always a Sapper” and access to benevolence support through the Royal Engineers Association (REA), which is also a registered Corps charity, remains open to you and your immediate dependants.

What were the RECCT funds used for in 2021?

Trustees are legally bound to ensure that all expenditure against RECCT income is in furtherance of the objectives set out in the charity’s governing document, and for no other purpose. Annually, the amount that the Trustees distribute exceeds the income from Day’s Pay Scheme subscriptions; the additional disbursement is the result of additional income from investments and other miscellaneous sources (e.g. donations and legacies).

RE Days Pay Scheme Income Comparison

What were the RECCT funds used for in 2016?

The Central Charitable Trust disbursed funds as follows:

• The Sapper
  The production and distribution of The Sapper magazine to Regular and Reserve units and individuals, world-wide, is funded by the RECCT. In 2021 tis cost £53,749.
• Benevolence
  Trustees of the RECCT recognise benevolence as their highest priority and allocate 50% of the income they receive from Day’s Pay Scheme subscriptions to the Royal Engineers Association (REA) to fund Corps Benevolence. All serving and former members of the Corps, their wives/husbands and children are eligible to apply for benevolence assistance in times of hardship and financial need.
• RE Museum
  The RE Museum maintains our Corps heritage and those who have yet to visit the Museum are encouraged to do so (free entry for serving Sappers). The RE Museum cannot meet its operating costs solely on the income it generates from public visitors and staff driven funding initiatives. The RE Museum received grants totalling £91,100 from the RECCT in 2021’
• RE Sports, Games and Adventure Training
  The Corps currently recognizes and supports 32 sports and games clubs. Each is actively encouraged to apply for an annual financial grant from the RECCT. In excess of a quarter of a million pounds was allocated to support these activities in 2021.Grants can also be considered to assist individuals who incur expenses whilst participating at Army or National level in a sport or game not formally established as an RE Sport or Club. Those who do not contribute to the Day’s Pay Scheme are not entitled to receive any financial support from the RECCT towards sports, games or adventure training.
• Esprit de Corps
  If you subscribe to the Day’s Pay Scheme you automatically become eligible for Life Membership of the Royal Engineers Association and, since May 2012, entitled to become a full or apprenticeship member of the Institution of Royal Engineers.
• Grants
•  The RECCT makes grants to support a wide range of miscellaneous Corps activities and initiatives. Examples include: Freedom Parades; unit flags; production of the Short History of the Corps (handed out to all new recruits); entertainments grants to support unit or Corps sponsored activities and project funding.
• WOs’ & Sgts’ Mess Fund
  A fund set up in 2011 to purchase silver and similar property for the HQ WOs’ & Sgts’ Mess. Every WO and SNCO in the Corps voluntarily contributes £2.50 per month to support this fund which, in previous years, has been used to commission 2 large silver centre pieces (at a cost of £29,000 including a £5,000 grant from RECCT) commemorating operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Governance
  This covers the administrative costs of running the ‘family matters’ side of the Corps. It includes items such as the wages of charity staff, annual audit fees, insurance cover, postage and other costs associated with running the HQ. In 2021 this was £105,767.