Armed Forces Community Covenant 2024

Signed Armed Forces Covenant[pdf] 2MB

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country. 

Signed on behalf of:

Arun District Council

Signed: 

Name: Dawn Hudd

Position: Chief Executive

Date: 15 October 2024

Name: Cllr Martin Lury

Position: Leader of the council

Date: 15 October 2024

Name: Cllr Mark Turner MBE

Position: Armed Forces Champion

Date: 15 October 2024

The Armed Forces Covenant

An Enduring Covenant Between

The People of the United Kingdom

His Majesty’s Government

– and –

All those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown

And their Families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of Armed Forces Covenant

1.1 We, Arun District Council, will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:

  • no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen 
  • in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate, especially for the injured or bereaved

Section 2: Demonstrating our Commitment 

2.1 We recognise the value that serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:

  • Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public
  • Armed Forces Champions: Armed Forces Champions within key departments and elected member representatives to support awareness of the Covenant and Armed Forces bill 2021 to ensure an elevated level of customer service for the Armed Forces community in Arun
  • Partnership working: commitment to attend the West Sussex Civil Military Partnership Board to ensure the council complies with national safeguarding legislative and policy updates and awareness of local multi-agency initiatives that support the Armed Forces Community in Arun and training opportunities for Armed Forces Champions
  • Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process, offering CV and interview skills support and guaranteed interviews
  • Recruitment: inclusive process, recognising military skills and qualifications to include guaranteed interview scheme for the Armed Forces community, flexible working policy and paid/unpaid leave and advertising of vacancies on Forces Employment website
  • Service spouses and partners: supporting the employment of service spouses and partners, partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum (https://www.forcesfamiliesjobs.co.uk/), and providing flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment
  • Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces, granting additional appropriate paid/unpaid leave for annual Reserve Forces training, supporting any mobilisations and deployment, actively encouraging members of staff to become reservists
  • Cadet organisations: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, granting additional leave and applying for unpaid time off under the Public Duty Policy to attend annual training camps and courses, actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations, supporting local military cadet units, recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce
  • National events: actively participate in Armed Forces Day and Remembrance activities, providing resources packs for any enquiries from members of Armed Forces Community, attendance at local breakfast clubs
  • Armed Forces charities: promoting and supporting Armed Forces charities, volunteering and fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist
  • Commercial support: where commercial service allows will always consider offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces community
  • Housing: we offer support through our housing allocations scheme which removes the requirement to establish a local connection to Arun District

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature, on staff notices, and on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting assessment feedback from the Service community, our staff and our customers.