16.1 |
The welfare of Service Personnel
Reference
of the Task Force were to identify innovative ways in which the
Government,
and society
as a whole, could fulfil its obligation to rebuild the
covenant.
189.
The Government
published a written Armed Forces
Covenant in May
2011.124
The Covenant
incorporated
a number of the Task Force’s recommendations. The
Covenant
stated that
members of the Armed Forces should expect respect,
support
and fair
treatment in return for the sacrifices they made on behalf of the
nation. The
Covenant
set out two
core principles:
•
No current
or former member of the Armed Forces, or their families, should
be
at a
disadvantage compared with other citizens in the provision of
public and
commercial
services.
•
Special
consideration was appropriate in some cases, particularly for those
who
had been
injured or bereaved.
190.
These core
principles were enshrined in law in the Armed Forces Act
2011.125
The Act
did not create legally enforceable rights for Service Personnel,
but required the
Defence
Secretary to report annually to Parliament on the Covenant with a
particular
focus on
four areas: healthcare, education, housing and the operation of
inquests.
191.
The Inquiry’s
conclusions and lessons on the pressures on Service Personnel
and
the support
provided to them and their families are set out in Section
16.4.
124
Ministry of
Defence, The Armed
Forces Covenant, 16 May
2011.
125
Armed
Forces Act 2011.
37