Overview to the Armed forces Covenant
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, are treated fairly.
About the covenant.
In terms of “official” information in relation to the Covenant there are really two sources as follows:
https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/armed-forces-covenant
These give a clear and informed introduction to the Armed Forces Covenant. However, it’s really important to remember that in signing the Covenant each organisation is able to interpret the guidance and pledge in conjunction with their local area need and resources. This has resulted in some common themes across the GM authority areas – as we have the officer group but essentially ten unique offers.
It’s also good to note that the need in terms of the Armed Forces Community across GM also fluctuates and what may be a priority in some of the Boroughs will be less important in others, many things influence this, the number and demographic of the personnel re-settling there, the demographic of the area generally, the offer locally and the location of regional or MOD provision and services.
Recently there have been some publications which have greatly assisted the understanding of the adoption, delivery and awareness of the Covenant within Local Authority settings – this is the Forces In Mind report here:
http://www.fim-trust.org/reports/ – Our Community – Our Covenant
This makes really interesting reading and there are other reports on this link which you may also find of interest.
On the 15th of December the most recent Armed Forces Covenant Report was published and you can find the link to this here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/armed-forces-covenant-annual-report-2016
In terms of specifics and ex-service personnel within the criminal justice system, the most recent Governmental report on this specific area is 2014 and can be found here:
The Forces in mind website is http://www.fim-trust.org/reports/
Armed Forces Annual Report in Numbers 2017 Update
6.3923_Covenant_Annual_Report_Summary_infographic draft v2
Armed Forces Annual Report in full 2017
6.3923_Covenant_Annual_Report_Summary_2017_A6_v7 WEB