COVENANT
Commercial disadvantage: We have continued to work closely with the three Families Federations to address those areas where the Armed Forces Community is being disadvantaged. Based on the evidence we have received, we decided to focus our immediate efforts on: • The effect on credit ratings caused by a mobile Military lifestyle
• The effect on car insurance no-claims bonuses for those serving overseas
• The negative effect a tour overseas can sometimes have on your mobile phone contract.
We met in early March with representatives from the Financial Services Industry, Information Services and the British Forces Post Office policy team, to discuss these issues. We agreed a number of actions between us aimed at moving to a more positive position. One thing that came out loud and clear from our discussions was some of the simple steps you can take to improve your credit rating history. These include: • Registering to vote so that your name appears on the electoral register
• Managing your finances through a UK bank account (even though you may be based overseas).
These are two key areas that credit reference agencies will examine and we will report back on progress as this work develops.
Community Covenant In early 2015, we hosted three National Community Covenant conferences in Bristol, Leicester and Manchester. We met with Local Authorities, other Government Departments, the Armed Forces Community, Service Charities and the three Families Federations. As well as hearing about the excellent programmes that were being delivered, we discussed how to improve support for the Armed Forces Community, and the challenges that we faced such as resource constraints and the pressure on local resources that rebasing will bring. The messages we took away from these events were that organisations, particularly Local Authorities want to understand better the size and complexity of their local Armed Forces Community. They want to do more to reach out to you, but they would really welcome it if you would do more to reach out to them. Better communications are important so that if you need support, you can be signposted in the right direction and we need to make sure that we spread a consistent policy message about the
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Over 600 companies/ organisations have signed the Corporate Covenant. Recent
key signatories have included Vodafone, construction services providers Laing O’Rourke and Tesco
Covenant throughout Local Authorities. This is so that when you approach your Local Authority, it already understands the challenges you face and how the Covenant applies to the services they provide. We will continue working closely with them to provide support as they deliver the Covenant in their local communities.
Corporate Covenant Over 600 companies/organisations have signed the Corporate Covenant. Recent key signatories have included Vodafone, construction services providers Laing O’Rourke and Tesco. The pledges they have made will have a positive impact on the Armed Forces community. For example, Vodafone have pledged to: • Endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment
• Offer a discount to members of the Armed Forces community.
You can see the full list of all the companies/ organisations who have signed up here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/ collections/armed-force-corporate- covenant-signed-pledges.
We will continue working closely with these companies to hold them to their pledges. In the meantime, we would encourage you, to let these companies know that you are a member of the Armed Forces Community whenever you come into contact with them.
A clear theme emerges from this article encouraging you to tell people you are a member of the Armed Forces Community. This is, of course, entirely voluntary, but if you do tell your Local Authority, or your GP, it will help them provide a better service. If you speak to people and they are unaware about the Covenant, you should report it through your Families Federation or Service welfare contact.
If you feel that you have suffered from comparative disadvantage because of your Service, contact your Families Federation at
enquires@raf-ff.org.uk or the MOD Covenant team at parlibranch-
treat-officials@mod.uk
Follow Covenant developments, or share ideas by joining our Facebook community at
www.facebook.com/ ArmedForcesCovenant
Envoy Autumn 2015 33
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