Guidance

Armed Forces Veterans Services

Published 26 July 2023

© Crown copyright 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/armed-forces-veterans-services/armed-forces-veterans-services

1. Our Purpose

Our team is responsible for providing pay, pensions, compensation and welfare support to serving military personnel, veterans, dependants and their families.

We also facilitate access to appropriate support services from other government departments, local authorities, independent bodies and the charity sector.

1.1 Services we Deliver

  • MOD Medal Office – We are responsible for assessing, processing and dispatching formal honours, awards and medals

  • Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre – We provide a 24/7 resource for active military and their families, providing support in casualty management, family connection, repatriation, and military and commemorative funerals.

  • Armed Forces Pension Schemes - We manage pensions for military personnel, including assessments, awards, payments, and maintenance under various schemes.

  • Veterans Welfare Service, Defence Transition Services & Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans - These services provide support for military members, veterans, and their families, including assistance with welfare issues and transitioning out of the military.

  • Ilford Park Polish Home - We manage a residential and nursing care home in Devon for former members of the Polish forces under British command in World War 2, or who were displaced from Poland following World War 2, or their spouses.

  • Veterans UK helpline - Our staff offer personalised guidance on war disablement pensions and armed forces compensation. We assist veterans, serving personnel, families, and third parties with claims inquiries, and provide referrals to the Veterans Welfare Service and service charities if needed.

1.2 Our current challenges

Armed Forces and Veterans services are currently working with an external service provider to deliver significant transformation and digitisation changes. These new processes and tools when implemented will require significant staff retraining and upskilling. Our services are currently subject to two independent reviews which are likely to impact and change how we deliver our services in the future.

These make for a fast-moving environment providing a dynamic and evolving workspace for the right individuals to influence and lead change across our business area.

1.3 We work closely with the following stakeholders within our role

  • Chief of Defence People
  • Single Services – Army, Navy, Airforce
  • Veteran’s charities and communities
  • Ex-service organisations
  • Third party contractors
  • Digital industry partners
  • Other government departments including the Office for Veterans Affairs
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