Armed Forces Covenant

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon)]

The armed forces covenant was launched in recognition of the obligation and debt that the Government and the nation owe to those who serve, or have served, and to their families. Its two key principles are that members of the armed forces community should not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services; and that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given the most, such as the injured and the bereaved.

It is entirely right that we should do this for those who give so much in support of their country. The Armed Forces Act 2011 enshrined the armed forces covenant into law, placing an obligation on the Defence Secretary to report to Parliament annually, on the effects of membership of the armed forces on serving personnel, veterans and their families. Today the Government have published their third annual report on the armed forces covenant and I am laying it in the House today.

The report sets out the action that has been taken to meet the commitments of the covenant, not only in the key legislative areas of healthcare, education, accommodation and the operation of inquests, but in all the other areas where we have an obligation to support our people.

Over the last 12 months we have:

changed our policy so that, from April next year, service widows, widowers and surviving civil partners will be able to retain their pensions for life, including if they subsequently remarry;

completed the £138 million Midlands medical accommodation project, a world class centre for excellence for the training and delivery of Defence Medical Services;

provided a further £20 million from LIBOR fines to improve the infrastructure in support of childcare provision for service families;

allocated £17.4 million, through the Department of Education to support the needs of some 58,000 pupils from service families;

increased the MOD education support fund to £6 million per year and extended the fund’s timeline to 2017-18 to help schools who support children from service families as personnel drawdown from Germany and rebasing takes place in the UK;

introduced the forces help to buy scheme to make it easier for armed forces personnel to get on to or stay on the property ladder. The scheme has already allocated around £29 million to help over 1,900 service personnel;

committed £40 million to support 16 new accommodation projects that will help veterans across Great Britain;

achieved a 100% sign up to the community covenant by all 407 mainland Great Britain local authorities, who have pledged to work to bring the civilian and armed forces communities closer together;

continued to grow the corporate covenant to over 370 organisations, including major names such as Tesco, Virgin Media and Liverpool FC, who have declared their support for members of the armed forces community who work for and use their services;

sponsored career assistance programmes designed for service partners which have already supported over 250 spouses;

implemented, with other Government Departments, the majority of the recommendations of Lord Ashcroft’s review of the armed forces transition process, and continued to strengthen the veterans support network, including: the development of a shared vision for veterans; and the setting up of a 24-hour veterans helpline;

for reserve personnel, we now provide better protection in civilian employment; we have also made changes to their terms and conditions of service including: granting an entitlement to paid annual leave, and enhanced occupational health care; and including them in the defence medical rehabilitation programme when they are mobilised and if they are injured during training;

£21 million from re-directed LIBOR fines the Chancellor announced recently in his autumn statement.

Looking ahead to next year, the report makes a number of commitments. We will:

launch a new £10 million consolidated armed forces covenant grant scheme;

make further announcements on the award of funding for veterans accommodation projects;

implement the majority of the healthcare infrastructure improvements recommended by the Care Quality Commission;

develop a system to transfer medical records between Defence Medical Services and the UK health services;

report on how LIBOR money has been distributed to support childcare provision for service families;

work with the National Foundation For Educational Research to produce some quantitative and qualitative data on service pupil premium use and improve understanding on its impact;

introduce a new, improved charging system for service family accommodation, coupled with a commitment only to allocate properties that meet decent homes standards on introduction;

improve MOD governance and work closely with the organisations who have signed the corporate covenant to ensure they deliver on the pledges they have made;

work with the financial services sector to address potential disadvantage associated with service overseas;

continue working to improve healthcare for reservists when not mobilised;

and provide a defined contribution to the future armed forces pension scheme for all paid service in the reserve forces.

The report has been compiled in consultation with the Covenant Reference Group, which brings together representatives from Government Departments, the devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales, and from external members, including the three Families Federations, the Confederation of Service Charities, the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, the War Widows Association and Professor Hew Strachan of Oxford University. As in previous years, observations by the external members of the Covenant Reference Group are published as part of the report itself. I am most grateful to all external members for their continued involvement and assistance.