South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:

-promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; Promoting our work, activities and events through our own digital & social media channels as well as working with the press Display the Armed Forces Covenant logo to show that members of the Armed Forces community are welcome Support the creation of Armed Forces working groups and networks within our organisation. Celebrate Armed Forces Day Development of content for dedicated forces sections within the careers element of the new SCW website Development of an SCW forces offer (Employee Value Proposition doc) Developing relationships with the CTP, Officers association and other groups to ensure SCW presence as an employer brand within the service leaver, veteran and wider forces candidate market. Ensure all SCW resourcing promotional material and content references the SCW forces friendly approach e.g. Use of step into health logo on NHS jobs Development of case studies to showcase career pathways of forces workers within SCW Development of guidance/maps to help service leavers and veterans understand where their skills may transfer into SCW service lines Development of insight days and potentially work placements Seek recognition for SCW as forces friendly employer e.g. Step into health participation, MOD Employer recognition scheme. -seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old: Working with and looking to advertise vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP,)as well as advertising widely in the Armed Forces Community, to ensure employment opportunities are made available to Veterans Welcoming applications from Veterans who meet the criteria in the job description and person specification Recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process and mapping them across into SCW and the wider NHS. Identification and development of interventions that may support armed forces veterans candidates during the application process Development of benefits profile for use internally to highlight to managers the benefits of employing forces candidates. Development of associated comms for internal promotion of the forces agenda. Development of signposting to support candidates in self-managing and maximising opportunity for success e.g. kings fund videos. Development of elements supporting on boarding and initial familiarisation to the NHS/SCW for forces candidates e.g. terminology document or links to alumni network Development of SCW support system e.g. First 12 / First 24 club, to ensure sufficient support in place as forces candidates settle into role at SCW Development of SCW forces alumni network to provide peer support and networks for the period beyond the first 12/24 months Development of ongoing pastoral support offer to forces candidates e.g. Veterans aware approach, PTSD support. Development of wounded, injured and sick candidate provision. Support managers in understanding the cultural elements that may impact career management for service leavers and veterans e.g. often undersell abilities, may realign career expectations and abilities once in post and therefore look for promotion. striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners; welcoming applications from spouses/partners who meet the criteria in the job description and person specification endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment, Reviewing relocation policy due to our patch we are committed to attempting to find alternative employment within the business in another location, if any member of staff at SCW need to move or relocate. Review of SCW policies and guidance to maximise opportunity to support forces candidates and their families Supporting our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including accommodating their training and deployment where possible; Review of policies to support reservists Staff are actively encouraged to become reservists Accommodating reserve training commitments wherever possible with SCW fully supporting and accommodating mobilised deployment of Reservists employees if required Accommodate our reservists training commitments wherever possible. aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; by becoming an AFD partner and: in advance; promoting through the web, social media, membership and other networks during; encouraging employees to take part in Reserve Forces Day, Uniform to Work Day and any Flag Raising Ceremonies; assisting with case studies and stories post; publishing stories on the web, social media, through our own membership and other networks Follow Armed Forces Day on Facebook or Twitter, post messages

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.