Guidance

VAPC south east England: meeting minutes 11 May 2020

Updated 11 July 2023

Present

• David Anderson (DA), Acting Chairman
• Craig Jones (CJ)
• Robin Draper (RD)
• Ian Talbot (IT)
• Joan Ferrer (JF)
• Alexandra Sard (AS)
• Kath Hutton (KH)
• Andrew McHugh (AMH)
• Patrick Lyster-Todd (PLT)
• Alex Platts (AP)
• Roger Nield (RN)
• Soundararajan Jagdish (SJ)
• Paddy Nicoll (PN)
• Carron Snagge (CS)

In attendance

• Rob Rowntree(RR), Department Head Veterans UK

Apologies

• Kate Steel (KS)

Welcome

David Anderson thanked all for joining the call and Craig Jones for hosting on Zoom.

Minutes of last meeting

The minutes from the last meeting were approved and David Anderson undertook to arrange for them to be published by MOD.

Matter arising

Kath Hutton said she had not spoken to the person she and AS had thought might be willing to be the Committee’s secretary but would do so.

Kath Hutton reported the RMC had been booked for 26 Jun 21. However, the current Covid-19 situation has led to some rethinking, and David Anderson reported that the national VAPC event at the National Arboretum would go ahead but not the Guildhall dinner, unless it was a VAPC London event. Ian Talbot would keep an eye on progress.

It was agreed that the aspiration to produce a paper on reservist post-deployment support would be shelved for now.

DA had yet to get to the bottom of the reason for the task to make a list of Service Champions. (Sec’s Note: The Chair of Chairs does not believe the task should have been actioned as the information was already available.)

Report on VAPC chairs’ VC on 28 April 2020

DA updated the meeting on issues arising from the National Chairs VC last month, in particular:

• progress with the VAPC Five Year Strategic Plan previously circulated to members
• the mission had been accepted with only a minor wording amendment
• the Core Objectives had been accepted in principle, but with some clarification
• the suggested KPI’s would be reworked
• the Annual Key Priorities were accepted
• it was confirmed that there was no wish to centralise the VAPC, rather that the aim was to encourage and aid collaborative working to give the VAPCs a stronger voice
• there was a concern about the volume of work required to meet the objectives
• Veterans UK had produced statistics (separately circulated) regarding their case management. These were well received as a significant improvement and will be reinforced with details on appeals for future meetings. It was also agreed that future meetings should get figures regarding VWS performance
• a communications strategy which included the provision of a HUB on the Forces in Mind Website – to provide secure sub-sites for VAPC issues and best practice to be shared – and a G-Drive for the storage of national and regional documents was agreed. All regions had been asked to provide a member for the Communications working Group
• it was agreed that one event at the National Memorial Arboretum on 1 Jun 21 was sufficient to mark the establishment of the War Pensions Committees. With the long-term economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was considered that only regional undertakings that would help build relations for the future (and hence improve the effectiveness) of the VAPCs should go ahead

Veterans UK

RR provided a short update on Veterans UK, including that:

• access to Norcross has been restricted with staff working from home where possible, which has restricted ability to progress casework. Nevertheless, urgent issues have been dealt with
• further changes to how Veterans UK deliver services during the current pandemic will be publicised as they occur
• VWS are not doing ‘face-to-face’ work unless imperative for individuals’ safety but are working with clients on the phone
• he believed all urgent issues have been met
• Vets UK is working with OVA on advancing policy issues and despite redeployment of some OVA personnel to Covid-19 duties, the Government remains implacable on the topic of developing and improving services to Veterans
• from a Veterans UK perspective the current political environment provided the VAPCs with a great opportunity to develop their role in the support of Veterans.

Improving effectiveness

DA introduced and explained his note on Revitalising the Committee and having summarised background issues explained his reasoning and the need for better coordination and for individual members to ‘step up to the plate’. A long discussion took place ranging around the issue of how to improve effectiveness. Many and varied comments were made ranging from, returning to the basics of expertise in WP prior to undertaking any other tasks, to the need for a more strategic approach, to a wider roll as envisaged by the national VAPC Plan. The issues of following best practice already established in some SE counties; the volume of casework undertaken; the VAPC purposes as set out on the MOD Website; what was realistically achievable; credibility; the need for the national plan to align with OVA and MOD policy; and - most importantly- gathering information directly from veterans were also discussed.

Eventually, it was agreed that:

• Ian Talbot would continue to lead on possible centenary celebrations
• a Healthcare/Mental Health group (comprising Craig Jones, Soundararajan Jagdish and Kath Hutton) would formulate a plan of action for the field and report to the Committee on 22 Jun 20
• AMH would look into what we could reasonably achieve in relation to AF Champions and Local Government Networks and make recommendations to the next meeting. (Sec’s note: KS has since restated her undertaking to be involved with LA liaison)
• it was noted that no one was prepared to represent the Committee on the nations Comms WG. (Sec’s note: Patrick Lyster-Todd has since volunteered to undertake this role pro tem).

Arrangements for the next meeting

It was agreed that the Committee would hold a further Zoom based VC at 10am on 22 June 2020.

Craig Jones once again kindly undertook to host the meeting.