In 2013, the Government made £35 million available to deliver Armed Forces Covenant commitments from fines levied on banks for the attempted manipulation of Libor. The cross-Government Covenant Reference Group, which is chaired by the Cabinet Office and includes representatives from key Government Departments, the Devolved Administrations, the Service charity sector, and the three Service Families Federations, set the priorities for the fund. The first two tranches focused on mental health and support for Service families, while the third tranche was open to any project meeting the principles of the Covenant.<\/p>
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In 2014, a further £40 million of Libor funds were made available specifically to support veterans with a housing need via the Veterans Accommodation Fund (VAF). The criteria and application process for both schemes were published on gov.uk.<\/p>
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Both funds were administered by the Armed Forces Covenant team. Against the agreed priorities, applicants had to demonstrate evidence of need, experience of providing a service and value for money. A decision panel was convened to agree the final allocation of funding.<\/p>
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The panel for the £35 million fund sat three times between 2012 and 2014 and included representatives from the Ministry of Defence Covenant and Financial Governance teams, H M Treasury, COBSEO, the three Service Families Federations, and the Welsh and Scottish Governments.<\/p>
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The panel for the VAF sat on 7 July 2014 and included representatives from the Ministry of Defence Covenant and Financial Governance teams, H M Treasury, the Welsh and Scottish Governments, the Army Families Federation, The Royal British Legion and COBSEO Housing Cluster.<\/p>
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<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2000", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Earl Howe"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Earl Howe"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-07-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-07-06T15:18:31.52Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-06-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Armed Forces Covenant"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 27 June (HL501) regarding the distribution of the armed forces covenant (Libor) fund, who selected the charities for funding; when; and on what basis.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2479", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Laird"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Laird"} ], "uin" : "HL852"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/384570", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/384570/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Corporate Covenant provides an excellent opportunity for businesses and other organisations to declare their support for members of the Armed Forces community. To date, across the UK, more than 590 companies have pledged their support and the number is growing steadily. The Secretary of State for Defence has written to the FTSE 350 companies to challenge them to sign the Corporate Covenent.<\/p>
European Union (EU) procurement law does not permit the contract award procedure or any contract condition to discriminate against any supplier in the EU. An obligation to sign up and fulfil the Corporate Covenant is likely to disadvantage suppliers outside the UK, although we encourage potential suppliers to sign up to the pledge in every invitation to tender we issue. This is a voluntary approach that allows each organisation to reach their own decisions about the level of support they provide.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1542", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Philip Dunne"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Ludlow"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Philip Dunne"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-06-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-06-29T15:35:11.393Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-06-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Armed Forces Covenant"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy that all government procurement contracts for goods and services include an obligation to sign up to and fulfil the armed forces corporation covenant.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4471", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rachael Maskell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "York Central"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rachael Maskell"} ], "uin" : "3354"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/381405", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/381405/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 June 2015 to Question 428 to the hon. Member for St. Helens North (Mr McGinn).<\/p>
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-05-28/428/<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1544", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Milton Keynes North"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mark Lancaster"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/381405/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "Hansard Extract HOC 428.doc"} , "title" : "Armed Forces Covenant"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-06-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-06-22T15:40:40.413Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-06-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Armed Forces Covenant"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the regional distribution of money raised by fines issued for Libor manipulation has been in each year since its introduction.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1438", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Durham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Kevan Jones"} ], "uin" : "2716"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }