The Ministry of Defence (MOD) as a caring employer has a comprehensive range of policies and resources in place to support families during the most difficult of times.<\/p>
<\/p>
With regards to accommodation, Joint Service Publication 464: Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations, makes provision for bereaved families to remain in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) for up to two years following the death of a Service person. It is normal to issue a 93 Day Notice to Vacate when two years is reached but retention of SFA may be extended beyond the two-year period on a discretionary case by case basis.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Purple Pack bereavement guide for families of service personnel who die in service is provided by the MOD. A routine review of the pack is underway, with a view to publication in summer 2024. The Purple Pack is supplemented and supported by documentation provided by each of the Services, for example, the Army Families Guide.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Purple Pack is provided for immediate adult family members. Information is provided for adults to support and manage bereaved children, including signposting to relevant charities and organisations.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Defence Bereaved Families Group meets twice a year in Spring and Autumn. In the past five years it has met ten times. The next meeting will be in September 2024, with the exact date yet to be confirmed. The Minister for Defence People and Families does not routinely attend the meeting, but he attended in September 2023 and regularly receives briefings from the Chair and co-Chair.<\/p>
<\/p>
Visiting Officers (VO) are an integral part of the support provided by Defence to bereaved families. VO are provided by each Service and undertake training relevant to their role. The Royal Navy (RN) has 60 personnel trained as VO, the Army has 1,390 and the Royal Air Force (RAF) has 1,103.<\/p>
<\/p>
Each Service runs training courses that meet their specific requirements, for personnel designated as a VO. For example, all RN VO are either Specialist Welfare Worker trained, having completed the Defence Specialist Welfare Worker Course (a Level Five Social Care training course specifically for the care of service personnel and their families), or Civil Service Social Workers registered with Social Work England (or equivalent devolved UK registration). In addition, all must attend and pass the RN Family & People Support VO training every three years.<\/p>
<\/p>
For the Army, formal, in person training is provided for those conducting both Casualty Notification Officer and VO duties. The training competency is extant for four years; if not appointed within that time frame a one-day refresher course can be conducted to enable another four years competency. The Army\u2019s recommended minimum provision of VO is set at ten for Regular major units, three for Regular minor units, and two for Reserve units.<\/p>
<\/p>
The RAF VO competency is awarded after completion of a workshop and remains current for four years after which volunteers must attend another briefing day to renew it. Units are expected to aim for 2-5% of their trained strength to have the VO competency.<\/p>
<\/p>
There is no fixed period of time during which a VO will provide support to a bereaved family. This is dependent upon circumstances but normally would not extend beyond an Inquest or Service Inquiry. Appropriate transition plans will be put in place including arrangements for ongoing support to be provided through a point of contact from either the relevant single Service aftercare cell or unit HR staff.<\/p>
<\/p>
Via DBS\u2019s Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), Defence also provides support to the bereaved via its national network of welfare managers (WM). A WM is assigned to families who experience a death in service and usually attends the initial visit alongside the VO. Support from VWS then endures for as long as is required and focuses on access to financial, welfare and wellbeing support as required, including issues in relation to the Armed Forces Pension. WMs who support clients in such circumstances are specifically trained and supervised as part of a VWS experts\u2019 group. VWS is part of the Defence Bereaved Families Group.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1466", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Wiltshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dr Andrew Murrison"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "22643"} , {"_value" : "22644"} , {"_value" : "22646"} , {"_value" : "22647"} , {"_value" : "22648"} , {"_value" : "22649"} , {"_value" : "22651"} , {"_value" : "22652"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-26T10:13:34.643Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Armed Forces: Bereavement Counselling"} , "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 training is required to be a designated visiting officer for a bereaved family of a member of the armed forces.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4682", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Pollard"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Pollard"} ], "uin" : "22642"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/445038", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for International Development"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/445038/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The UK has allocated £304 million in Lebanon and £193 million in Jordan to support Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region. Whilst addressing the immediate needs of refugees and vulnerable members of host communities, UK aid is also supporting their longer-term resilience and stability through funding to essential basic services. For example, the UK has allocated over £27 million in Lebanon and £21 million in Jordan to support health related activities such as providing over 229,157 medical consultations in Lebanon and 102,205 in Jordan for emergency trauma and primary healthcare cases.<\/p>
As part of the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI) the UK is also working with other donors, UN agencies, NGOs and governments in the region to prevent a whole generation being lost to the Syria conflict through long-term negative impacts on psychological wellbeing and lack of access to quality education. In Lebanon, the UK\u2019s total pledge to support education now stands at £80 million, and in Jordan, the UK is providing £15 million over three years to improve the quality of public school education for both Jordanians and Syrians. In addition to this support to the formal sector in Jordan the UK has also providing £3 million so far to support Jordanians and Syrians in informal education.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/55", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "New Forest West"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Desmond Swayne"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-01-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-01-21T16:33:47.853Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "20"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "International Development"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-01-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Syria: Refugees"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that vulnerable Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan have access to basic services such as health and education.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3958", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Fiona Bruce"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Congleton"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Fiona Bruce"} ], "uin" : "22642"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }