Forces children scotland
Response to Call for Evidence on the Armed Forces Covenant
Introduction
Forces Children Scotland supports children and young people from serving personnel, reservist and veteran families to reach their potential and thrive.
We achieve this by working collaboratively across sectors to drive improvements which reflect and support the unique challenges they face.
We amplify their voices, ensuring they are heard and influence the development of policy and practice.
o In what areas is the Armed Forces Covenant working well?
The Armed Forces Covenant allows families to hold various decision-makers to account regarding the equal treatment of those in armed forces families to make sure they face no disadvantage.
The Duty gives clearer examples of how the Armed Forces Covenant can provide protections in the areas of health, housing and education. The guidance provided by the UK Government on the Duty has been helpful to give examples of how duty bearers can work to meet the Armed Forces Covenant[1].
o Where is the Armed Forces Covenant failing the Armed Forces Community?
o What are the main causes for these failings?
Whilst the Armed Forces Covenant provides a good framework, many in the Armed Forces Community still do not know about it at all or know how it applies to them[2]. If adults within the community do not understand the Covenant, it makes it more difficult for children and young people to find out more and how it applies to their own lives. Guidance to the Covenant can be quite complex and is not child-friendly. It is important that resources be created, alongside children and young people, to make sure they understand what the Covenant means for them. MLG Highland is developing a resource for children and young people to understand the Covenant which will go some way to making sure it is more widely understood by children and young people. More work in this area should be encouraged to
make sure children and young people of all ages are aware of the Covenant and what it means. This should extend to ensuring that the Covenant guidance has clearly defined and easy to access child-friendly complaints mechanisms for when children and young people believe that a public body has not given due regard to their situation.
Not only does the community often not know about the Covenant, but duty bearers such as local authorities are letting down those in the community. Through our Advisory Service, we have encountered situations where the local authority does not recognise the ex-partner of a service person as being covered by the Covenant leading to housing difficulties. This impacts children and young people’s ability to realise Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Frontline staff who work for duty bearers must be knowledgeable about the Covenant and be aware of who it applies to.
Service Family Accommodation (SFA) is also failing service families and especially children and young people. SFA standards must be improved and held to the standards of local authority housing. Although housing is included in the Legal Duty, it is still an area where children and young people are failed repeatedly as the MOD and subcontractors are not included within the duty. This is essential to ensure those living in SFA do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens living in social housing provided by Local Authorities and Housing Associations.
“Most equipment in the house was breaking. The sink was replaced three times and the shower was breaking. Electricity kept going out. Mould throughout the house. Rooms smell rank.” Elizabeth
Education is still an area that, despite the Armed Forces Covenant and the associated duty, can be challenging for children, young people and families. Frequent moves mean children and young people often have to move schools which can be a difficult time. This can be exacerbated by trying to find siblings a place in the same school or being able to pick the subjects that the young person wants to take. These challenges directly impact Article 28 of the UNCRC, the right to an education and Article 29 where education must develop a child’s
personality, talents and interests. By not being able to access the subjects they wish to study, it may impact this right directly.
“I missed two years of primary school due to moving back and forwards between the UK and Germany, also repeating topics between England and Scotland. I wasn’t supported with hobbies and interests, so I was bored.” Cadence
More work must be done to address the challenges in education for this group of children and young people across the whole of the UK and not look at an England centric approach. The appropriate metric needs to be developed to understand the positive impact the Covenant can have on successful transitions. This needs to focus on the quality of the educational offer and transition rather than the number or timescales.
Are there areas which the Armed Forces Covenant ought to be extended to and why?
o If so, which are the priority areas?
o What legislative changes should be made and why?
Alongside the COBSEO written evidence, we believe that more legislation needs to be added about the gathering of data related to the Covenant Duty areas. Without up to date and reliable data, we cannot measure the impact of the duty and the covenant in practice. It is vital that this information is collected at a central government level and also by local authorities so we can measure how the Covenant makes a difference or not.
“For the government to know what kids, whose dads/mum are in the forces, feel and to hear them” Forces Children Scotland Forum Member
Forces Children Scotland believe that the current Bill is limited in applying to only healthcare, education, and housing matters. The Armed Forces community can potentially experience disadvantage across many policy areas including employment, social care, and immigration. From our perspective inclusion of such wider issues is vital to supporting the wellbeing of children and young people in Armed Forces families, as any difficulties experienced by the wider family unit, will almost certainly have an impact on children and young people. We therefore believe that the scope of the Covenant Act should be extended to cover all policy areas and central government and devolved administrations.
One example of where the current restrictions to the scope of the Covenant Duty is impacting children and young people is in accessing whole family wellbeing support. The Scottish Government has given a policy commitment to providing whole family wellbeing support as early intervention to prevent family breakdown and ensure the best opportunities for children and young people to develop and thrive. Local authority social work departments act as gatekeepers to this resource and it is rarely accessed by forces families. As the Covenant does not currently extend to social services, families are at a disadvantage in being able to access this resource. It can also mean that those organisations who deliver it are not aware of the unique needs of forces families for support during service-related events such as deployment. Forces Children Scotland strongly believe that the duty should be extended to all areas of work delivered by Local Authorities and work done with the devolved administrations to understand where service delivery and policy differ from delivery and policy in England. This will ensure that families from the armed forces are not at a disadvantage in accessing all resources on offer through devolved administrations and local governments.
o What impact would the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant legal duty to central government and devolved administrations have?
We believe that the legal duty should apply to all public bodies including, the UK Government and the devolved administrations. The Armed Forces community access public services provided at national, devolved, regional, and local levels. Forces Children Scotland believe it is crucial that the UK Government and devolved administrations are subject to the same legal standard as the other public bodies currently included in the Act. This will help ensure consistency in the protection offered by the Covenant. Importantly, many of the policy areas in which the Armed Forces community may experience disadvantage fall within the responsibility of the UK Government and the devolved administrations. It is vital that policy development in these areas is subject to the ‘duty to have due regard’ to ensure the principles of the Covenant are truly respected and protected at all levels. Although local authorities ultimately deliver many of the services outlined in the Duty, it is the central and devolved governments deciding on the wider policies and funding.
Forces Children Scotland (formerly known as Royal Caledonian Education Trust) | Scottish Charity Number: SCO38722 | Registered Address: C/O The Melting Pot, 15 Calton Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8DL
