Introduction

As a council, we are fully committed to honouring our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC).

This is a promise by the nation to make sure that those who serve, or who have served, in the armed forces, and their families, are treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives.

You can find out more about the:

Who are the armed forces community

You are a member of the armed forces community if you are:

• Serving or regular personnel.
• A reservist, volunteer or regular. This is someone who either:
  • currently trains to serve alongside the regular forces if there is a threat of war, or to support humanitarian or peace keeping operations
  • has previously served and may be called upon for deployment.
• A veteran, defined as someone who has served at least one day in HM Armed Forces.
• Family of serving personnel, reservists and veterans, including:
  • their spouse
  • civil partner
  • any children they are responsible for
  • parents and unmarried partners, if appropriate.
• Immediate family of serving personnel and veterans who have died, whether or not their death was connected to their service.

The council fully supports staff who are members of this community.

Cadet forces

The armed forces community also have strong links with cadet forces. These are national youth organisations who develop the attributes of leadership, engagement, citizenship and physical fitness within a safe environment. The cadet forces include:

• cadets, aged 12 to 18 who are a member of one of the cadet forces
• cadet force adult volunteers, who help instruct and advise cadets at weekly cadet training sessions.

The skills, experience and qualifications gained by cadets and adult volunteers make them great candidates for apprenticeships, placements and roles at the council.

Cadet forces are not part of the military but use military rank and structure and are sponsored by the armed forces.

Delivering services to the armed forces community

Identifying members

If your service is looking to identify whether any service users are part of the armed forces community, standardised question wording and guidance is available from our corporate policy team.

Identifying the status of individuals accessing these services is not mandatory, and an individual has the right to refuse to answer, but it is considered as good practice to do so.

If we can identify an individual as being part of the armed forces community we can help to:

• understand their circumstances
• identify the potential disadvantages they may face accessing services
• open up access to a wider range of support provided externally
• signpost to the available services.

Duty analysis

If you are developing or reviewing policies, strategies or services in housing, health or education, you are required by law to make sure you have considered the principles of the covenant.

You can do this by completing an Armed Forces Covenant duty analysis.

Defence employer recognition scheme

We are members of the defence employer recognition scheme (ERS) and hold a Gold award.

This is a scheme that offers gold, silver and bronze awards to organisations who pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.

It encourages employers to:

• support defence
• inspire others to do the same.

Ready to learn more?

If you are interested in finding out more about the Armed Forces Covenant, an eLearning module has been developed to: