Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant by local authorities.

The Covenant’s principles were enshrined in law in the Armed Forces Act 2011. This Government has demonstrated its commitment to upholding these principles, which is evident in the work reported in each of the four annual reports laid in the House. We will continue to report progress to Parliament. Next month’s Annual Report will detail the considerable progress made across government and with wider public, private and third sectors, including in the key areas of education, healthcare, accommodation and access to commercial services.

Every Local Authority in mainland Great Britain and two in Northern Ireland have signed a Community Covenant. We are working with them to help them deliver the support they have promised to the Armed Forces community, with good work in many areas including housing, education, health and social care.

Together we have taken a number of steps forward in this area, such as allocating funding from a £20 million budget to improve childcare facilities for Service families at 40 locations in the UK and Cyprus. In order to help Service children through local schools’ admissions processes, we have changed the Schools Admission Code in England to give them priority by allowing Service families to apply for and be allocated a place before they move into an area.

This year approximately £21 million was allocated in Service Pupil Premium payments for the pastoral needs of almost 70,000 Service pupils in state schools in England. In 2015, £6 million in grants was given to 154 applicants for Education Support Funding, to help UK state schools mitigate issues caused by exceptional mobility and deployment.

Furthermore, we have worked closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and Devolved Administrations to ensure that Service personnel do not experience any disadvantage as a result of their military service when applying for social housing.