Guidance

VAPC south east England: meeting minutes 29 March 2021

Updated 11 July 2023

Present

• Rob Nitsch (RN)
• David Anderson (DA)
• Graham Cable (GC)
• Dan Brooks (DB)
• Robin Draper (RD)
• Joan Ferrer (JF)
• Steve Fradley (SF)
• Simon Furlong (SFL)
• Clive Hunt (CH)
• Kath Hutton (KH)
• Stephen James (SJ)
• Craig Jones (CJ)
• Patrick Lyster-Todd (PLT)
• Andrew McHugh (AMH)
• Ash Merry (AM)
• Alex Sard (AS)
• Carron Snagge (CS)
• Kate Steels (KS)
• Neil Strachan (NS)
• Fiona Sweny (FS)
• Ian Talbot (IT)

Apologies

• Amran Hussain (AH)
• James Partridge (JP)
• Alex Platts (AP)

Welcome and apologies

RN welcomed all to the meeting and noted apologies (see above). All members were invited to briefly introduce themselves for the benefit of the new SEVAPC members recently appointed (and therefore joining the meetings) for the first time. All members introduced themselves and those recently joining were welcomed.

Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record. No matters of note arose.

Chair’s update

RN remined the meeting of his recently emailed briefing note on ongoing work (at Regional Chairs’ level) with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) and the Minister for Defence People and Veterans. The focus has been to revisit and formally establish an agreed future role for VAPCs in the forthcoming legislation. It is unlikely that we will meet the timeline for the Armed Forces Act 2021, so an opportunity to enshrine any changes in law in 2022 is the next objective.

Subcommittee composition and updates

Following discussions with all members (including those recently appointed) RN confirmed the composition of SCs (see names and roles at the beginning of these minutes) and invited members to update the meeting on their initial work.

SC members updated the meeting on their work planning, and the wider Committee discussed and developed ideas.

SC leads agreed to provide SC outline plans to RN ASAP. These will inform each SC’s planned work for the next 6 months with an emphasis on our regional engagement with the veteran community.

RN thanked all subcommittee members for their work and updates, and undertook to follow up with leads to further develop these work strands after receipt of the above reports, after which RN would consolidate and send round to all Committee members. A scorecard approach to tracking SC work will be developed in due course.

Training

DA thanked those who fed back on the recent Veterans UK (Vets UK) training session, and advised the meeting that organisers were looking to act on feedback, including offering two sessions per year from now on.

DA then updated the meeting of the development of generic VAPC induction training for new joiners and those involved in specialist areas of VAPC work, and explained that a pilot version of the induction training was being trialled on recent recruits to SEVAPC.

DA requested those undergoing the above induction training to feed back to him and invited any other members interested in having a look to get in touch with him.

DA advised that he would be approaching longer standing members to act as mentors to new recruits and asked for their support in assisting new members.

RN advised the meeting that the generic VAPC handbook is being updated, but is subject to ongoing revision of VAPC roles and legislative framework.

In addition, RN is pushing for current Chair meetings with Vets UK to be open to all members, to aid a more direct flow of information.

Communication strategy

Following on from above noted issues re comms to/from Vets UK, PLT updated the meeting on the developing communications (comms) strategy options and issues, using a PowerPoint (PPT) brief, which elicited input from members.

The PPT will be shared with the members post meeting, and the work will continue.

GC volunteered to join comms group to further develop these initiatives.

Any other business

RN updated the meeting on the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Regional Partnership Boards and invited volunteers to join these boards in relevant counties. Sufficient volunteers offered their services to cover all counties as follows:

• Kent and Medway – Stephen James
• Surrey – Dan Brooks
• Hants (less Portsmouth) – Kate Steels
• Portsmouth – Kath Hutton
• Berks – Ash Merry
• Oxon – Ian Talbot
• Bucks – Ron Nitsch

RN summarised meeting content and actions, with an emphasis on the foci agreed in terms of forthcoming SC work. Once SCs confirmed their foci (per point 4.3), RN will circulate.

DB updated the meeting on his involvement with national VAPC health and NHS matters, for which members thanked him and added further insight. DB undertook to circulate relevant briefing notes.

Date of next meeting

The aim is to hold the next meeting in vivo (ie not virtually) so a date will be agreed once the lockdown easing situation becomes clearer.