DIRECTOR
From the Director
There’s an impenetrable fog outside the office window this morning. There’s no flying at Wittering, the A1 is at a standstill outside the camp entrance and it’s all unusually quiet. But that’s not the case inside your Families Federation. We’ve spent the spring and summer visiting units, talking to people to capture their views and compiling their evidence - reporting on issues ranging from childcare to life as a reservist. Now, as autumn has arrived, we’ve been delivering that evidence to those that matter and contributing to a whole range of “people” initiatives going on within Defence. We’re sometimes asked “So what? What happens to all that evidence?” So let me share my October with you to illustrate.
We reported to the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) at the beginning of October and I had a couple of hours discussing with them the many issues you have told us about, including your thoughts on life in the RAF in general, accommodation and the current issues with contractor performance, CAAS, public sector pay policy, spouse employment, morale, the reasons people want to leave early and, finally, the AF Covenant and why so few of you seem to be aware of it. Of course, the AFPRB is not going to make recommendations on pay awards and charges based solely on what I said to them but I hope that I was able to paint a picture that, together with all the other evidence they have gathered, will give them an understanding of the issues, concerns and priorities that you have and that they weigh them, judge them fairly and take them into account when reaching their conclusions. Let’s hope so.
I also met with the Air Member for Personnel and Capability, Air Marshal
6 Envoy Winter 2015
Sir Baz North. He and the Air Secretary, AVM Stubbs, gave me an invaluable update on what is going on the personnel front and talked at some length about the challenges within SDSR. We spoke about some of changes coming in the future and the importance of having a credible offer to retain those already serving and attract those thinking of joining – and their families – in an increasingly competitive market.
Along with my colleagues from the NFF and AFF and what felt like half the MoD personnel staff, I also met Mark Lancaster TD MP, your Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Min DPV) and the Chief of Defence People (CDP), Lt Gen Gregory. Min DPV has spent the first 6 months in post bringing himself up to speed with the issues you face. He certainly found it useful to hear from us - direct from the horse’s mouth as it were - and some of the case studies we gave him really grabbed his attention, bringing issues to life in a way that statistics on a page simply cannot. I can tell you that the minister is very seized of the accommodation issues many families have had to deal with and that he is working hard with the contractor to improve their performance. He is equally conscious of SLA issues as well – the singlies are not forgotten in all this! He is also doing a lot of work with his ministerial colleagues in other government departments, such as Works and Pensions, Education and Health, to secure their help in developing policies that will support you and remove disadvantage wherever they can.
Early October also saw me at a meeting of the AF Covenant Reference Group (CRG). Led by the Cabinet Office, the CRG manages the AF Covenant and translates ministerial direction into action. We discussed the new
Covenant Grant Fund and how it’s shaping up, the issue of Covenant awareness – many of you still don’t seem aware of what it does and nor do many of the people in external organisations charged with its delivery.
During the month, I also met with staff at the Dept of Work and Pensions, the Dept of Culture and Local Govt and with RAF Association and RAF BF Welfare Committees. In each case, I discussed the issues mentioned above and what each of these very supportive organisations can do to help remove disadvantage and improve things for you. I also briefed the MoD Welfare Conference on the various roles of all three Families Federations. Encouragingly, MoD is now developing a Families Strategy, to which we are contributing. We hope it will provide a more coherent and co-ordinated approach to how our families are supported. We’ll keep you posted on progress via our website. I’m also pleased to report that, largely as a result of our childcare survey earlier this year, we have got the whole issue of childcare onto the MoD radar as well. Again, watch out for updates on the website.
I hope that gives you a flavour of the level of access we have to senior people and how we bring issues to their attention and challenge them about what is being done. We might not change policy as a result but I think we can and do influence it for the better.
Be assured that we’ll keep working on your behalf.
Enjoy the magazine.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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