Covenant Annual Report published
December 7, 2020
The 2020 annual report on the Armed Forces Covenant has been published by the MOD today (7 December). Covering progress in areas such as health, education and housing across the UK, highlights of the report include:
- Nearly 1500 organisations, large and small have signed the Covenant in 2020, bringing the total to over 6000 and demonstrating a huge amount of support for the Armed Forces Community
- 22,000 Service Personnel have been helped on to the property ladder since the Forces Help to Buy scheme was introduced in 2014
- 800 GP practices in England are now accredited as ‘Veteran Friendly’
- £123m has been invested in improvements in SFA, with a further £200m from the Covid Grant Fund spent to upgrade an additional 3500 homes.
- The Civil service announced plans to introduce a guaranteed interview scheme for veterans
Minister for Defence People and Veterans Johnny Mercer said:
“Our service personnel make an immense sacrifice for this country, and the Armed Forces Covenant is at the heart of our pledge to ensure they are treated with fairness and respect.
“Over the past year we’ve provided a cash boost for family accommodation, introduced free breakfast and after school clubs for military children and enhanced employment opportunities for veterans with our guaranteed interview scheme.
“6,000 signatories is an important milestone and I’m determined we do all we can to ensure our people are not disadvantaged by their service.”
The full report, together with a summary report and a ‘Covenant on a page’ are available here.