| answer text |
<p>Our Armed Forces are among the most extraordinarily talented and hard-working people
in our society. We recognise the vital role that their families play, and that operational
capability relies on recognising the Service person as part of a wider family unit.
This is why we launched the first ever UK Armed Forces Families’ Strategy in 2016,
which focuses and coordinates activity to support Service families. Priorities for
this work include childcare, partner employment and accommodation, which have consistently
remained areas of interest for both the Service Families’ Federations and the Department.
In delivering the strategy we work closely with a number of external stakeholders
to provide support to spouses and partners, for instance to those who are looking
to gain employment, as we recognise that the demands of Service life can impact on
the careers of family members.</p><p><br> Welfare support is provided to families
via the single Service welfare organisations; additionally there are a significant
number of other organisations that can be accessed via welfare referrals. The Covenant
Fund has assigned £4 million to projects that support ‘Families in Stress’, enabling
specialist organisations such as Relate to provide immediate or local support to families
experiencing episodes of significant strain. To date the Fund has awarded eleven grants,
totalling almost £2 million, to specialist and expert charities.</p><p> </p><p>In
addition to keeping the range of welfare support under continual review and launching
the Families’ Strategy, we have expanded the Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing
Strategy 2017-2022 to incorporate all Defence People, including the families of Service
personnel. We have also embarked on a partnership with the Royal Foundation to deal
with issues of stigma and the treatment of mental health problems across the defence
community. We are developing options for the Future Accommodation Model which recognise
the 21<sup>st</sup> century family and we are developing flexible engagements for
those who wish to vary their deployability to better fit their Service career around
family life, all of which aims to contribute to increased family stability.</p><p>
</p><p>A key component of the Families’ Strategy is to ensure that Service families
are considered in people policy development, supporting the principles outlined in
the Family Test. This is achieved through consideration of the Service family as part
of each relevant submission or policy discussion, and through regular engagement with
the single Services and the three Families’ Federations who represent the needs and
views of Service families. The Department also monitors the development and implementation
of policy to assess the impact on families. In the period since August 2014 none of
the legislation implemented by the Ministry of Defence has required the application
of the Family Test.</p>
|
|
