Ministry of Defence
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Armed forces minister responds to the Royal British Legion's honour the covenant campaign
In response to the launch today of the Royal British Legion's Honour the Covenant Campaign, the Armed Forces' Minister, Bob Ainsworth, said:
"I welcome the Royal British Legion's campaign to generate debate about the covenant between the Nation and the Armed Forces. I will look in detail at the Royal British Legion's concerns and respond in full as soon as possible. I do not believe that the covenant is broken and, having spoken to the military Chiefs, nor do they. But making sure that the covenant is upheld, particularly when we are asking our people to do so much, is very important. For this reason we keep the support we provide to our personnel and their families under constant review.
"There are areas where we have already made significant progress, but we acknowledge that we must do more. These areas include mental healthcare for veterans, compensation, inquests and accommodation.
"We are working with the NHS to develop a new model of community-based mental health care for veterans, and have agreed in principle to a very considerable increase in money to Combat Stress for 2007/2008.
"In 2005 we introduced the Armed Forces' Compensation Scheme which, for the first time, offers an upfront, tax-free, lump sum payment. The scheme also provides the Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) to those who have been more seriously injured. GIP is tax-free, inflation-proof and paid for life, on discharge. We are expecting the result of our review into multiple injuries payments to conclude within weeks.
"The MoD has worked closely with the Ministry of Justice and individual Coroner's offices to reduce the time that it takes to hold inquests. This has been very successful.
"Providing Armed Forces personnel and their families with decent accommodation is one of our top priorities. We are determined to address the legacy of substandard accommodation and have committed to spend £5bn over 10 years to put it right. Although it will take some time, we are making real progress.
"Fulfilling our part of the deal is not always easy and takes both time and money. Clearly, as a Defence Minister I accept that I have a role to play in leading this debate, in partnership with other Government departments, with charities, with the public and with the Armed Forces to make sure that the covenant is upheld."
Notes to editors
The MOD's on-line news service, UK Defence Today, may be found at http://news.mod.uk.
The latest version of the Military Covenant can be found online at http://www.army.mod.uk/servingsoldier/usefulinfo/valuesgeneral/adp5milcov/ss_hrpers_values_adp5_1_w.html#backgrd
