COVENANT
COMMUNITY COVENANT – A Local Authority point of view
Written by David Fairclough, Shropshire Council U
ntil 18 months ago I had no background in working with the Armed Forces. I, like most civilians, was
aware of some of the foreign operations currently on-going, but I had no idea the range of work undertaken by the RAF, Army & Navy both home and abroad.
18 months later, I am the Coordinator for the Shropshire Community Covenant and I regularly hold conversations with forces personnel and their families about how we can help remove disadvantages they face from their service, whether that be as a Regular or Reservist. Here is the story so far of the Shropshire Community Covenant…
The Shropshire Covenant partnership The Partnership, which began in 2013, is made up of representatives from Shropshire Council, RAF Shawbury, 143 Brigade HQ, 1 Royal Irish, SaBRE, NHS England, Hive, Royal British Legion and SSAFA amongst others. Despite such a great range of organisations, the partnership’s main strength is in the individuals that support it. From Squadron Leaders, to Council Officials, a partnership is only as strong as those that can influence change, and I am delighted we have such an excellent partnership here in Shropshire.
Whilst establishing the partnership the group met monthly. This helped in establishing links and creating professional friendships and appreciations for each other's roles. As an Armed Forces novice, I didn’t know the difference between a Group Captain and a Flight Lieutenant and some of the military style language was certainly different to the local authority language I use!
However, from April 2014, we have been more content with meeting bi-monthly as we’ve been able to develop a priority plan for how the partnership will evolve and meet its core aims. The plan is split in to several categories including Health, Integration, Education, Housing and Employment.
32 Envoy Autumn 2014
To enable this priority plan to succeed, the partnership undertook consultation with existing forces personnel. We managed to talk about a range of topics and what existing forces felt the barriers were to integration and how a partnership approach could remove these barriers/ disadvantages.
From my point of view, talking with forces personnel has been both professionally rewarding but also humbling. Basic things for most civilians like entering a child in to a school or gaining employment aren’t always as straight forward for men and women who serve their country. My understanding of why this is the case has increased tenfold. I am now in a position where I can hopefully influence change gradually to re-address this balance.
Successes to date
I am delighted to say that, since the formation of the partnership, we have achieved the following actions in line with the priority plan:
– Shropshire employers are being encouraged to sign the Corporate Covenant, with Shrewsbury Town FC and Shropshire STAR signing up.
– Transitioning forces personnel will be given a ‘Gold banding’ housing allocation if they are struggling to get a house when exiting the forces. This may help ease transition for those people who don’t own their own home or can’t afford to privately rent.
– Benefits for Service Leavers – Shropshire Council disregard 100% of the income from the War Disablement Pensions, Service Attributable Pensions & the War Widows/Widowers Pensions.
– Encouraging Schools to view other positive case studies of spending Service Pupil Premium to maximise the benefit of the scheme.
– The local authority now has a Reserve HR Policy which is currently being adopted.
Having the RAF Families Federation regularly attend meetings has also been invaluable in understanding the national picture. It is with their support that the partnership’s next aim is to look at spousal support around employment and local authority policies around housing.
Sqn Ldr Kim Leach, the Corporate Engagement and Relations Officer at RAF Shawbury said:” It has been a pleasure to work with Shropshire Council to promote the work of the Covenants. It is reassuring to know that there is strong support for military personnel, their families and ex-servicemen in Shropshire and that employers value the additional skills, confidence and expertise that military service brings. We particularly appreciate the work of Shropshire Council in promoting activities which help to integrate the Armed Forces community into local life and in developing opportunities for service spouses. In return, personnel at RAF Shawbury have enjoyed supporting local charities through our fund raising activities.”
Armed Forces: Council staff learning curve
Not having a forces background I realised that my fellow colleagues in the local authority were probably as much in the dark as I was. We therefore set about changing this…
In March 2014 the work of the Shropshire Armed Forces Community Covenant was highlighted at an event in Shrewsbury hosted by Shropshire Council. All local authority staff were encouraged by the Director of Commissioning to attend the drop-in session and learn more about the Armed Forces.
The event was aimed at council staff and councillors – particularly those who support veterans, existing forces personnel or their families – to ensure they were aware of the important work being done by the Covenant and to understand issues facing forces personnel today.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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