Despite the Armed Forces Covenant, UK Government and society are falling short of their commitment to the Armed Forces community, according to a report by the Defence Select Committee of MPs. Some of those who have served, and their families, are being put at a disadvantage as a result of their service, for example on NHS waiting lists, the committee says.
Since the Covenant’s principles were first put into law in 2011, a lot of good work has been done by public service providers, by businesses and by the charitable sector to address disadvantages faced by people in the Armed Forces community. Some 12,000 businesses have signed the Armed
Forces Covenant. However, the Covenant is still not consistently understood or implemented, the MPs summed up. They reported an impression that the Covenant is ‘a hollow commitment’.
Chair of the Defence Committee, Tan Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough, said: “Our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and make huge personal sacrifices in doing so. Military service can take a toll on personnel and their families. Service can be difficult, demanding and dangerous, so society must work hard to ensure that no one suffers disadvantages for serving the country.
“The Armed Forces Covenant is supposed to support those who have served, but unfortunately, our report today finds that the Covenant is inconsistently implemented – delivering value for some, but not others. We heard evidence of personnel being financially disadvantaged, unable to access necessary medical care, or unable to find an appropriate school for their children, due to their service.
“When the Covenant works – it works well. Personnel and their families told us that they had successfully made use of the Legal Duty of the Covenant to access services. But this is a lottery, made worse by the unpredictability and mobility of service life. When trying to access healthcare, each move can send Service families to the bottom of waiting lists for treatment.
“Our report calls for the Covenant to be strengthened and expanded in law, and for Government to be much more proactive in ensuring the Covenant is properly understood and consistently implemented across all parts of our society. Government must provide guidance and direction, so that both the private and public sector have clarity on what their responsibilities to Service personnel and their families are, and so that personnel, families and veterans can rely on the Covenant wherever they are.”
The 38-page report called for the legal duty to give due regard to military service to be expanded to central government departments and the devolved administrations.
Comment
Among those who gave evidence to the MPs were Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials and local government. David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said of the report: “Councils are committed to supporting the Armed Forces communities through the Covenant, meeting veterans’ needs, ensuring they have access to housing, health and community services.
“It is positive this report recognises the role of councils and the need to co-design any changes to legislation with local authorities. It is important councils are consulted on any changes. We also support the call for more guidance on delivering covenant duties, and for the duty to give due regard to military service to be expanded to other government departments.
“However councils need to be adequately funded in the Spending Review so they can provide the resources to help support our veterans, in particular should councils be given additional duties.”
