Priory Group
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, Her 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 Priory Group 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 Priory Group 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:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Discounts
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:
-Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; Priory Group provides specialist services which supports veterans and their families especially those with addictions or are suffering from mental ill health as a result of serving their country. We employ veterans, their families and reservists and have established a Forces Friends network internally giving peer support and a greater understanding of their needs -Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; Priory Group will promote Armed Forces Day through our social media channels / colleague communications channels and actively take part in local and regional events where possible Service Leavers Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old, establishing a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers; Priory Group recognises that veterans are highly skilled and capable individuals with a huge amount that they can contribute to society and our services which support some of the most vulnerable people in the UK. We will offer guaranteed interviews for service leavers and will establish a tailored employment / Career Pathway for service leavers to join our sector transitioning from the armed forces. We will work alongside the Career Transition Partnership in support of this work Reservists Seeking to support our colleagues who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces, including accommodating their training and deployment where possible; Priory Group employs a number of Reservists and will accommodate training and deployments on a case by case basis. By January 2021 we aim to offer 5 days’ unpaid leave to reservists for training activities and by January 2022 hope to implement a policy of offering 10 days paid leave to reservists for training activities Military families Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners. At Priory Group we will endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment. We will establish a relocation scheme between our sites across the UK when a family moves due to redeployment. We will establish a scheme for career breaks for Service spouses and partners allowing them guaranteed reengagement with us if they seek to return in a period of up to 24 months. We will seek to work with Forces Family jobs to give greater access to our roles for Service family members Offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces Community in accessing our specialist services; Priory Group will make available discounted rates for members of the Armed Forces community and their families on the cost of private mental health and addictions treatment across the Priory Group private services network with the potential to expand this to other services in the future. We will also offer a discount for our residential education and children’s services for parents who are part of the Armed Forces community and paying privately a placement with us
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.