Armed Forces Covenant advances across Whitehall desks
The Armed Forces Covenant will extend across central government under new legal plans, meaning departments must consider service personnel, veterans and families before choosing the least helpful dropdown option. The mission begins with a form, as all serious missions eventually do.
The duty covers housing, education, health, childcare, tax, benefits and transport. In short, it reaches every part of life where someone can currently say that another team handles that.
The promise begins a long march through several buildings
Ministers plan to include the change in the next Armed Forces Bill. Consequently, Whitehall has begun the complex operation of moving a promise in formation through offices, committees and at least one locked door.
“Nobody should face disadvantage because of service,” said Brigadier Daphne Carbon Copy of Cross Departmental Stapling. “We have support from twelve policy areas and one printer that only accepts A5.”
The Covenant already guides public bodies in key services. The wider duty aims to bring the military community into decisions from the start, rather than adding them to an appendix after lunch.
The system looks for a utility bill from a barracks
Officials will also need clear data and accountability. Meanwhile, veterans hope the system can identify them without demanding a utility bill from accommodation they left fifteen years ago.
By evening, every department had pledged full cooperation. The pledge entered the building alone because it possessed the correct security clearance and nobody had found the group pass.
Government machines then began preparing a new route map. It shows one clear direction of travel, although the route takes a brief detour through a consultation, a pilot and the printer room.
Read the real story: The government announcement on expanding the Armed Forces Covenant duty.
