F e a t u r e s
Recruit the Man (or woman!), Retain the Family
The RAF FF was invited to contribute both written and oral evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee Inquiry into Recruitment & Retention in the Armed Forces. Here the Federation Chairman, Dawn McCafferty, tells us what happened.
W
e were grateful for the opportunity to inform this Inquiry and are hopeful that the views of
RAF families will influence to some degree the House of Commons Defence Committee’s (HCDC) report on these important issues. We have all heard the American maxim ‘Recruit the Man (or woman!), Retain the Family’ and we believe that one of the strongest ‘pull factors’ encouraging Service personnel to consider leaving the RAF is the impact of the military life-style on family life.
There is no doubt that military families today are facing significant challenges. An increased operational tempo and a massive shift from the old ‘Cold War’ scenario to the more recent ‘expeditionary’ air force sees thousands of personnel deployed to trouble spots around the world. Families are experiencing
frequent and prolonged absences of loved ones, and Out of Area deployments are no longer the exception but more the rule. Many families believe that the military are under-valued and that the disadvantages of the military life- style outweigh the advantages.
Our report to the HCDC focussed on retention as we believe that
adds to a perception of a military life-style that is unattractive in comparison to careers available in civilian life.
To inform this inquiry, the FF reviewed earlier work completed last year for the Armed Forces Pay Review Body review of the X-factor. Details are in the Winter 07 edition of Envoy* so is not repeated here. What follows is the additional evidence provided to the HCDC.
Family Related Issues
HOUSING The main complaints centre on the allocations policy and entitlement to SFA. These issues seem to cross the rank structure and special needs provision is clearly a growing area of concern.
I have just been watching Gp Capt (Rtd) Dawn McCafferty answering questions from the Defence Committee and am really impressed with the great effort the RAF Families Federation is making to enhance the welfare of the Servicemen and Servicewomen and their families. All the questions were clearly and confidently answered. A pleasure to watch. I served 40 years in the RAF and was a WO on the AMPLT for 2 years and know just how important the welfare aspects of Service life are. Best of Luck for the future. Derrick (Bill) Rumsby
this is the area of the Inquiry to which our evidence was most relevant. However, we believe that many of the factors highlighted by families have a negative read-across to recruitment. Every bad news story about Service accommodation, inadequate support to casualties, alleged bullying at training camps, etc, whether based on fact or not,
14 Summer 2008
We have also seen recent evidence arising from non-entitled partners who are not permitted to co-habit with long-term partners, many with children from the relationship. This lack of recognition causes
resentment and is cited as a reason for some to consider leaving the RAF. We are aware that work is in hand in the Centre to address this but it has been on the policy desks for at least 10 years, with no promise of delivery in the
near future owing to the cost implications of extending entitlements to partners.
Other housing issues relate to the performance of the Housing Information Centres, the delivery of response and pre- planned maintenance, and the overall lack of investment in the estate. Many families
aspire to own their own properties and welcome initiatives such as the Key Worker Living Scheme and similar initiatives. However, the constant mobility of RAF life, coupled with the lack of control over future family location, makes entry into the housing market a particular challenge and a high-risk endeavour for many.
EDUCATION The key issue here is mobility and the need to move children to different schools if the family is to stay together or to opt for boarding school to guarantee continuity of education.
Access to first choice primary and secondary schools across the UK is becoming a very emotive subject, with many families having to appeal against decisions by local authorities, adding to the stress of moving home. Often, the short-notice of an assignment, or the late notification of an address can make the application process even more challenging and whilst recent enhancements in policy have allowed unit addresses to be used for school registration purposes, if the accommodation is in a different catchment area to the base, this does not make the application any easier.
Access to special educational needs provision is also complicated by the mobility factor, with some families reporting long delays in securing the same provision at a new location. Whilst statements of special need are supposed to be transferable, this is not always the case in practice, meaning that children have to be re-assessed by the new school, creating delays in their educational support.
Although we do not have hard statistical data to back this up, we are led to believe by many families that the cost of boarding school has increased significantly over recent years and that the Continuity of Education Allowance (Board) has failed to keep pace with this, meaning that families are now required to pay a larger proportion of private education costs.
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