Since the 1689 Bill of Rights, Parliament has been required to pass an act every five years that renews the Army, Air Force and Naval Acts. Whilst in1689 they could not have foreseen the rapidly changing face of war this allows Politicians the opportunity, and indeed the duty to ensure that the legal status of the Armed Forces adequately reflects what they are required to do.
The act was completely re-written in 2006 and made some significant achievements in bringing the bill up to modern standards, however following a commitment outlined in the Coalition document (but interestingly not in any individual party’s manifesto) the Military Covenant is to be enshrined for the first time in Clause 2 of the Armed Forces Bill.
Clause 2 requires the Secretary of State to prepare an annual armed forces covenant report on the effects of membership on service people, which includes Veterans and their families.
The true need for this report has never been greater, particularly in the fields of Mental Healthcare. A recent study by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research[1] suggested that almost a quarter of Iraq Veterans admitted to suffering from mental ill-health, with nearly 5% displaying symptoms of PTSD. By projecting these statistics on to the 180,000 Service men and women who have been deployed to Iraq and to Afghanistan, we could be looking at as many as 48,000 Veterans suffering some form of mental ill health, with 9,000 potentially developing PTSD.
And that's not just 48,000 individuals suffering, that's also 48,000 families whose lives have been permanently affected by debilitating mental injuries.
The concern will be that while enshrining the covenant is a significant step to rebuilding our eroded Military Covenant, it is not known exactly what will be required to be included in the report. During the Second Reading Dr Liam Fox indicated that this was to avoid ‘long and complex’ legislation.
As the Bill moves into Committee stage tomorrow, we will have a while to wait before we see if the first armed forces covenant report will have any teeth, and while long and complex legislation affords nobody any favours, it is vital that this report reflects the true nature of the impact of war on individuals who have served their country, and ensuring proper care for individuals suffering for the sacrifices they have made.
Sara Kelly is an Account Executive at PLMR. She has previously worked in Westminster for Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP and campaigned in elections and by-elections. She runs her own blog.
[1] *What are the consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of the UK armed forces? A cohort study (Matthew Hotopf and Simon Wessely) http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr/10TL1552.pd
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