Letter: Government falling short on delivery of Armed Forces Covenant
A letter from Doug Beattie:
The Defence Committee’s fourth report on the Armed Forces Covenant confirms what we already know: delivery of the covenant is a patchwork approach to delivery, resulting in widespread inconsistencies.
One striking contribution to the inquiry described the covenant as: “A bit of a curate’s egg: in some areas, it’s good, and in some areas, there’s still work to do.”
Many in NI will strongly identify with the latter part of that statement and ask when the government’s work will begin to make a real difference for them.
Any government should be judged by its outcomes, and in terms of Armed Forces Covenant delivery in Northern Ireland, they are currently falling short.
When given the chance to retain the Northern Ireland Veterans Support Office to offer strategic direction and help coordinate covenant and broader delivery here, they chose not to take it.
Another area of failure, albeit under the stewardship of the former government but yet to be rectified by the current one, is the failure to ensure initiatives such as Op Courage, Fortitude, Restore and others – providing access to mental health, housing support and more – are delivered on a UK-wide basis. This further exacerbates the inconsistent approach to delivery across the nation.
Implementing the Armed Forces Act 2021 and the Covenant in Northern Ireland falls under the remit of the first minister and deputy first minister. However, the lack of ownership and clear direction has resulted in fragmented and inconsistent delivery. In the absence of action from them, the UK government have a moral obligation to intervene.
Until there is a clear commitment to addressing these gaps and ensuring uniform delivery across all regions, including Northern Ireland, the Armed Forces Covenant will continue to fall short.
Doug Beattie, Ulster Unionist MLA