The AFPSpt Armed Forces Covenant Team have provided us with an update on the work they have been doing and what to expect in 2022:

Legislating the Armed Forces Covenant

· The Armed Forces Bill introduces a new Duty on relevant public bodies, when exercising certain aspects of their public housing, education and healthcare functions, to have due regard to the three principles of the Armed Forces Covenant.

· The functions include those aspects that are most likely to affect serving and former members of the Armed Forces and their families.

· The Bill has passed the Commons and is now at the committee stage in the House of Lords and is expected to achieve Royal Assent by the end of the year to become law in 2022.

Holistic Transition and Life Skills

· Joint Service Publication (JSP) 100, the Defence Holistic Transition Policy, was launched in 2019 to better coordinate and manage Service Personnel and their families’ transition from military to civilian life. In conjunction, the Defence Transition Services (part of MOD’s Veterans UK) was established to help the most vulnerable Service Leavers adjust to civilian life. JSP 100 is currently undergoing a full review, which will enhance existing Life Skills interventions across the Services by developing a Life Skills Package available to all Service Personnel and their families throughout a serving career.

Engagement at a Local Level

· They continue to work closely with Local Authorities (LA) across Great Britain on delivery of the Covenant at a local level. They have re-established a Covenant Community Action Group, which focuses on strengthening local delivery of the Covenant. Regional LA reps sit on the Group, together with the local government associations in England, Scotland and Wales.

· In developing the statutory guidance to support the new Covenant Duty they ran a series of regional focus groups with LAs over the summer to get their feedback, with a further round planned before the end of the year.

· A third instalment of the Our Community, Our Covenant Report has been commissioned by the Forces in Mind Trust. The research is underway and publication of the report is expected in summer 2022. This will examine the impact that the Armed Forces Covenant has had over the last ten years in improving public-service delivery for the Armed Forces Community. While it will look in detail at areas such as healthcare, housing and education, there will also be a focus on employment in the public-services context – i.e. employment support and advice, and employment of members of the Armed Forces Community by public sector employers.

Covenant Annual Report

· This year’s Covenant Annual Report will be a joint publication between the MOD and the OVA. It has been re-titled as the Covenant and Veterans Annual Report, and it will cover Government delivery this year against both the Covenant and the Strategy for Our Veterans. It is due to be published in early December 2021.

Comms and Engagement

. They aim to ensure there is wider understanding of why service may lead to disadvantage, why the covenant is important, and what HMG and others are doing to support the Armed Forces community.

· As part of this, the Armed Forces Covenant Website will be refreshed over the coming months, to ensure the content remains relevant and useful to stakeholders.