Helping our people understand the Armed Forces Covenant’s
support and extension
A grant of £370,000 has been awarded to drive awareness of the Armed Forces Covenant – helping
more Service personnel and families to access support and understand how the Armed
Forces Covenant Legal Duty extension, as part of the Armed Forces Bill, will
directly benefit them.
The Army
Families Federation (AFF) will receive the grant on behalf of the Tri-Service
Families Federations, which includes the AFF, Naval
Families Federation and the RAF
Families Federation. Together, they will develop the Covenant Awareness
Programme, coordinating efforts with other relevant organisations.
Funded for two years by the Ministry of Defence’s Armed
Forces Families Fund, the Covenant Awareness Programme will:
- Significantly
improve awareness and understanding of the Armed Forces Covenant by
creating and sharing resources and engaging with Service families.
- Enhance the well-being and
resilience of Service families through better access to resources and
support networks.
- Inform
Service families of how the Armed
Forces Covenant Legal Duty extension through the Armed Forces Bill – which
is progressing through Parliament – will positively impact them.
What does extending the Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty mean for the Service community?
Hear from the Ministry of Defence’s Minister for Veterans and People, Louise Sandher-Jones MP:
Placing the Armed Forces community at the heart of policy and decision making
The Armed Forces Bill – which is progressing
through Parliament and currently at the Select Committee Stage – will deliver
on the Government’s manifesto promise to extend the Armed Forces Covenant Legal
Duty to every area of Government and Devolved Governments.
This will ensure that, for the first time,
all Ministerial departments, devolved Governments and public delivery bodies
must consider the needs of the Armed Forces community when making decisions
within key policy areas. Decisions on childcare, education and training,
employment, health and social care, housing, social security benefits, personal
taxation, criminal justice, transport, pensions, immigration and citizenship,
will take the unique challenges of Service life into account.
It gives serving personnel, Reservists, Veterans,
and their families a meaningful voice and delivers on the Government’s pledge
to renew the nation’s contract with those who serve and have served.
What is the Armed Forces Covenant?
Since its inception in 2011, the Covenant
has stood as a national promise: those who serve or have served, and their
families – including the bereaved – should be treated fairly, with special
provision for those who have sacrificed the most. The new legal duty is a
transformative step in fulfilling that promise.
For more information on the Covenant and how
it can support you, visit the Covenant website.