Following the Defence Committee's report on the Armed Forces
Covenant, the Government has committed to extending the
Covenant's Legal Duty to all UK Government departments and the
devolved administrations.
Today, the Defence Committee publishes the Government response to
its report on the Armed Forces
Covenant.
The Government accepts the Committee's finding that the Covenant
is inconsistently implemented, and that there is currently little
data available to measure whether the Covenant is making a
difference to the lives of Service personnel and their families.
The Government's response commits to providing an update to the
Committee on its efforts to improve data collection and sharing
on the delivery of the Covenant.
In other areas the Government stops short of endorsing the
Committee's recommendations. For example, the recommendation that
it develop a strategy for ensuring more consistent implementation
of the Covenant.
Chair of the Defence Committee, MP, said:
“I am pleased that the Government has recognised that the Armed
Forces Covenant is not applied as consistently as it should be
and has agreed to the Committee's recommendation to extend the
Covenant Legal Duty to all central government departments and to
the devolved administrations. This is the right thing to do. The
Covenant is a solemn commitment that the Servicemen and women who
place their lives on the line for us should face no disadvantage
due to their service – we need to make sure every part of
government lives up to that commitment.
“While the Government's promise to extend the Covenant in law is
a step forward, legislation is only one piece of the puzzle. In
our report we found that Armed Forces personnel face a lottery
when accessing services. Consistent implementation of the
Covenant is essential if we are to make a positive difference to
the lives of Service personnel and their families.
“In our report we called for the Government to develop a strategy
to ensure that the Covenant is implemented consistently, and it
is disappointing that today's response stops short of producing
that strategy. We hope that the Government will have more to say
about how it plans to improve implementation when it brings
forward the Armed Forces Bill in the next parliamentary session.”
