Suffolk County Council
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-28)

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 Suffolk County Council 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 Suffolk County Council 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:
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
We also pledge the following:

We will liaise with our armed forces units to understand their community needs. Our web­ portal will list local armed forces units and links to cadet units.

Cadet Instructors. Suffolk County Council employees are awarded two days corporate volunteering each year and this can support this volunteering role.

Cadet Groups. We will support cadet groups through supporting grant funding requests to local groups through Councillor Locality Funding or Grant Funding advice through Suffolk County Council Grants & Funding Service.

We will prompt local employment and training scheme providers, especially those commissioned by Suffolk County Council, to engage the local armed forces community.

We will promote veterans focused employment and training opportunities to local veteran’s net­ works and collaborate with DWP East Anglia Armed Forces Champion.

We will develop and sustain an Armed Forces Covenant information webpage on our corporate website: www.suffolkmilitarycovenant.org.uk and encourage local veterans services to participate in the Suffolk County Council led Suffolk Info-Link Online directory of services and the warm­ handover initiative.

We will appoint a Suffolk County Council Armed Forces Champion Councillor and Officer as a point of contact who can help on issues of disadvantage (point of contact details on the website). Upon request they will attend annual engagement, liaison meetings or events with local armed forces units. They will attend and support the Suffolk Armed Forces Covenant Board.

We will integrate the Armed Forces E-Learning CPD Modules into staff online learning platforms and encourage staff to develop their knowledge of the Armed Forces community:

• The Armed Forces Covenant - An Induction

• Armed Forces Covenant for Front Line Workers or Customer-facing Staff

• Armed Forces Covenant and Covenant Duty Explained: Health and Senior Officers

• Commercial: As part of our tendering process, under our Corporate Social Value policy, we en­courage contractors to sign the Armed Forces Covenant and consider engaging the local armed forces community around employment.

• Health:

The Joint Service Needs Assessment will continue to consider the health and wellbeing needs of the armed forces community (serving, service families (spouses and children), veterans, veterans’ families) within population research, data and analysis. Where practical we will look at additional analysis linked to inequalities and population reporting.

Under the Armed Forces Act 2021, ensure that Suffolk County Council Public Health commissioned or delivered statutory healthcare services have Due Regard to the armed forces commu­nity: Sexual Health, Substance Misuse or Health-check services. And that Suffolk County Council (CYP) Health Visitor and School Nurses service teams support the health and wellbeing of military families and are aware of additional support and where to find it.

Through Suffolk County Council Public Health system networks, we will communicate and influ­ence the take up of Armed Forces focused Healthcare initiatives (Primary and Secondary Care).

We will be mindful to ensure that Armed Forces Unit Welfare Teams are aware of community health and wellbeing services and initiatives that are available within wider society.

• Education: Armed Forces Act 2021: Education Due Regard

We will take a Due Regard approach and work with school partners to support children from ser­vice families: School Admissions, Home to School Transport, Pupil Attendance, Additional needs support, Educational attainment and curriculum, Student wellbeing and use of Service children’s Pupil Premium.

We will promote Service Children’s Pupil Premium and additional support (services or grant op­portunities) to schools through Suffolk Headlines or other local channels.

We will be mindful of the education needs of service spouses and service personnel through our commissioning of adult learning and the learning opportunities within our education partner­ ships and service providers networks.

• Civic responsibilities:

We will directly participate in UK Armed Forces Week by raising the UK Armed Forces Week flag.

We will support communities to mark UK Armed Forces Week and initiatives that commemorate Armed Forces remembrance, sacrifice, and heritage.

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.