Topic summary on the Armed Forces Community

The Armed Forces Covenant, published in May 2011, recognizes the moral obligation that the nation has towards members of the armed forces and their families and establishes how they should expect to be treated. The core principles of the Covenant were enshrined in law in the Armed Forces Act 2011, which introduced a new policy directive for some public bodies, including the NHS and local authorities, to pay due regard to the principles of the Covenant when carrying out work in the areas of housing, healthcare, and education.

The Armed Forces Community JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment) was initially compiled to support preparations for Armed Forces Day on 20 May 2023 and also helps to provide some of the rationale underpinning the Royal College of General Practice’s veteran-friendly practice accreditation scheme.

For the purpose of the JSNA, the armed forces community includes serving members of the armed forces or reservists, armed forces veterans, and the partners and children of serving members or veterans of the armed forces.

• Ex-service personnel are more than twice as likely as the UK population as a whole to receive sickness or disability benefits.
• Ex-service personnel are more prone to depression, anxiety, or other common mental health disorders compared to the general population. However, some research suggests that the overall rate of suicide among veterans is slightly lower than in the general population.
• The physical and mental health challenges faced by ex-service personnel may also affect their parents, siblings, partners, spouses, and children.
• Members of the ex-Service community and their families, particularly younger individuals, those with dependent children or long-term illnesses or disabilities, are at greater risk of financial difficulties and are more likely to accumulate debt. The working-age ex-forces community is nearly twice as likely as their civilian counterparts to have unpaid caring responsibilities for family members, friends, or neighbors.

The Manchester Armed Forces Covenant Steering Group facilitates cross-organizational collaboration and provides a strong network of organizations and service providers that work together to support the armed forces’ work in the city. The Council also hosts an Armed Forces Focus Group made up of current and former members of the armed forces employed by the Council and has embedded Armed Forces Champions into a number of departments.

As part of its work to support the Armed Forces Community, Manchester City Council operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme that guarantees an interview to veterans and reservists if they meet the minimum requirements for a role. It also has a Reservist Policy which outlines the entitlements due to reservists working within the Council and supports the mandatory annual training expected of reservists and the adjustments needed should they be mobilized by their unit.

The national NHS mental health and wellbeing support offer for armed forces veterans includes Op COURAGE – a mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel, reservists, armed forces veterans, and their families who are due to leave the military – and the Ministry of Defence Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme. Locally, Pennine Care hosts the Military Veterans Service which provides mental health support and specialist psychological therapies for conditions including depression, alcohol and substance misuse, anger problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder to ex-service personnel across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

As of 31 December 2023, 32 out of the 83 GP practices in Manchester are accredited with the Royal College of General Practice’s veteran-friendly GP practices program. Around 36.8% of patients registered with a Manchester GP practice are registered with a Royal College of General Practice accredited veteran-friendly practice. 14 out of 15 Primary Care Networks in Manchester have at least one accredited GP practice.

• Acknowledge the wealth of experience and information contained within local Armed Forces Covenant groups within the public and voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors, and the valuable role they play in helping to deliver the Armed Forces Covenant by educating interested and obligated entities and sharing best practices.
• Encourage public and private sector organizations in Manchester to sign up to the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) to demonstrate their support for the armed forces community, align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant, and become armed forces-friendly employers.
• Provide ways to ensure that organizations providing services to members of the armed forces community and their families are actively involved with the work of the local Armed Forces Covenant Network and play a key part in the City Council's Armed Forces Covenant Steering Group.
• Collaborate with the Manchester GP Board to increase the number of GP practices in Manchester accredited with the Royal College of General Practice’s veteran-friendly scheme. This ensures that GPs and other general practice staff have the necessary training and support to deliver optimum care and treatment for patients who have served in the armed forces.

This JSNA was completed in December 2023 and was presented to the Manchester Health and Wellbeing Board on 24 January. View a full copy of this JSNA.