Saddleworth Parish Council has committed to honouring the Armed Forces Covenant and is pursuing the Bronze certification for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. It recognises the value that Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our community and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant “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” https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/ .
Section 1: Principles of The Armed Forces Covenant
1.1 We Saddleworth Parish Council will endeavour in our Council 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
- in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved
Section 2: Demonstrating our Commitment
2.1 We recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our community and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:
- promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation; publicising our Armed Forces Covenant
- supporting events and occasions associated to our Armed Forces community, such as Remembrance and Armed Forces Week
- seeking to support the employment of veterans, young and old; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) on veteran employment opportunities and offering guaranteed interviews for Service Leavers that can demonstrate that they satisfy the required qualification criteria
- striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners; signing up to Forces Families Jobs
- seeking to support our employees who may choose to be members of the Reserve Forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible
- offering support to our local Cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible
You can find out more about the Armed Services Covenant here: https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/