This inquiry will examine the Armed Forces Covenant, the UK’s commitment to ensuring that members of the Armed Forces community are supported and treated fairly. The inquiry will explore whether the Covenant is working, examine areas where serving or former personnel and their families continue to face difficulties, and consider how the Covenant might be updated or expanded in scope. The Government has indicated that changes to the Covenant could be brought in during the next Parliamentary session as part of the next Armed Forces Bill; the recommendations of this inquiry will be able to inform that legislation.
The Secretary of State has granted special dispensation for Service Personnel to provide evidence to the Committee's inquiry. The MOD is content for serving personnel and civil servants to submit written evidence to the inquiry on the understanding that:
- it is in a personal capacity;
- in line with long-standing principles as Crown Servants, submissions from those employed by the MOD only comment on personal experiences and not matters of policy; and,
- those submitting evidence do not reveal private information about other people.