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About – Armed Forces Covenant

What is the Armed Forces Covenant?

To those who proudly protect our nation, who do so with honour, courage, and commitment, the Armed Forces Covenant is the nation’s commitment to you.

It is a pledge that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives.

Further information about support services available to both serving personnel and their families , and veterans and their families are provided on GOV.UK.

Find information about working, jobs and pensions for members of the armed forces and their families .

What is being done?

The covenant focusses on helping members of the armed forces community have the same access to government and commercial services and products as any other citizen.

This support is provided in a number of areas including:

  • education and family well-being
  • having a home
  • starting a new career
  • access to healthcare
  • financial assistance
  • discounted services

For more information about the background of of the Armed Forces Covenant go to the covenant policy .

You can also read the Armed Forces Covenant promise in full here .

Who is involved?

The covenant supports serving personnel, service leavers, veterans, and their families. And is fulfilled by the different groups that have committed to making a difference.

These include:

 
  • Central government, overseen by the Ministerial Covenant and Veterans Board
  • Single services (Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force)
  • Businesses of all sizes
  • Local government
  • Charities
  • Communities
  • Cadet forces and their adult volunteers
 
 

Does it apply to you?

If you are a member of the armed forces, a veteran, or a family member, the Armed Forces Covenant offers a wide variety of support to ensure you are being treated fairly.

If you are a business, or a community organisation, you can find out how to show your support.

This site will help direct you to the most relevant information regarding policies, services and projects that you can benefit from.

Visit Armed Forces Covenant guidance and support for information on the breadth of the covenant and the support it provides.

Please add under news ACTION COUNTERS TERRORISM LOGO Attached

Action Counters Terrorism – GOV.UK

With the terror threat becoming increasingly complex and varied, police are calling on communities to act on their instincts to help prevent atrocities taking place in the UK and overseas.

The national campaign by Counter Terrorism Policing continues to urge the public to act on their instincts to help tackle the terrorist threat.

‘Make nothing happen’ focuses on the critical role the public can play in defeating terrorism. The campaign will be the first under a new branding platform called ACT: Action Counters Terrorism. This urges the public to report suspicious activity to help police bring dangerous offenders to justice and prevent terror attacks in the UK and overseas.

At a time when the scale, volume and complexity of the terrorism threat continues to grow, police are advising the public to act to report any potential suspicious activity or online content they come across and are concerned about.

The public already contribute intelligence to around a third of the most serious terrorism investigations. This new campaign reassures communities that they shouldn’t be concerned about wasting police time or getting someone into trouble.

The message is clear – ‘don’t worry, don’t delay, just act’ by:

 
  • reporting suspicious activity to the police by calling confidentially on 0800 789 321 or at gov.uk/ACT
  • reporting online terrorist and violent extremist material online
  • remaining alert at home, work and when out and about, so we can all play our part in defeating terrorism and keeping everyone safe

Mark Rowley, National Counter Terrorism Policing lead, said:

Since 2014, the threat of terrorism has been severe, which means that an attack is highly likely. When attacks have occurred in the past, people have said that they suspected something was wrong but were worried about wasting police time by coming forward. That couldn’t be more untrue – with some of our highest priority investigations benefiting from information received from the public. We have always said that ‘communities defeat terrorism’. That is why the ACT campaign urges the public to do just that.

It is very encouraging that in a third of cases involving our most serious terrorist suspects we have benefited from information from the public. The number of calls and online reports we receive is also increasing. This is testament to people’s trust in the police – but now we are appealing for even more.

Counter terrorism policing is working hard to keep the public safe and we have, with our partners in the security services, helped stop 13 attacks since the appalling murder of Lee Rigby in May 2013. However, advances in technology make it more complex and challenging for us to spot would-be terrorists because it’s easier for them to be in contact with others and be radicalised in a relatively short space of time.

The threat is becoming more varied and the move towards low-tech attacks on crowded places, like those we have seen in major European cities and beyond, makes it even more important everyone remains vigilant and acts, by calling us confidentially, if they are concerned about suspicious activity.

Security Minister Ben Wallace added:

The horror of recent terrorist attacks in Europe and beyond is a shocking reminder of the threat we all face. We know that we are not immune as the threat to the UK is currently assessed as severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

Our police and security and intelligence agencies work tirelessly, often unseen, day in and day out to keep families and communities across the country safe. The public also have a vital role to play as they are ideally placed to notice activity which is unusual.

I welcome the police’s ACT campaign which raises awareness about what to look out for and provides people with easy-to-access advice.

Ultimately, this is a job for all of us. I encourage people to follow the campaign’s message to remain alert but not alarmed by the threat and report any concerns to the police.

More information on what to look out for and how to contact police can be found at gov.uk/ACT. You can also report suspicious activity by calling police confidentially on 0800 789 321.