Pitstone Parish Council
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Pitstone Parish Council will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Pitstone Parish Council recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Reservists
We also pledge the following:
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Promoting the Armed Forces in our village, for example by publicising and celebrating Armed Forces Week through literature and media.
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Recognising Our civic responsibility to honour the contribution Of the Armed Forces as a council by attendance at Remembrance events and by annually displaying “silent soldiers” around our village.
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Engaging our community by including information on the Covenant (and our Pledges) in the material we send to new residents, and in Pitstone Parish Post.
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Signposting Armed Forces personnel and veterans to sources of help in relation to health. housing or education - for example our local “veteran-friendly” GP surgery, our local branch of RBL, or SSAFA Bucks.
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Doing what we can to improve the employment opportunities for veterans and reservists by guaranteeing a job interview to veterans (or reservists) where they met the basic job criteria.
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Recognising the obligations on reservists.
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Promoting the Covenant (and the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme) with local employers, especially those with links to aerospace and defence.
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Appointing a councillor as Armed Forces Champion to lead and monitor our implementation of these Pledges.
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.