As we mark Armed Forces Week, we celebrate the brave personnel that keep us safe every day and the families who sacrifice so much to support them. We also celebrate all that service life offers: the unique opportunities for skill development, social mobility and the highest apprenticeship numbers in the UK. While the rewards of service are extensive, it is also important to pause to reflect on the deep sacrifices made by our service personnel, veterans, the bereaved and their families—individuals who put country before self, who defend our freedoms with quiet courage and unwavering resolve.
This Government are proud to announce an important step forward in honouring that service. We are delivering on our commitment to put the covenant fully into law. This new armed forces covenant legal duty will apply to all Government Departments and devolved Governments in a broad range of policy areas affecting the armed forces community. This law will make sure that respect for our armed forces community is not just spoken but woven into the very fabric of our policy and service delivery decisions.
We have consulted with over 150 organisations, heard from communities across every region of our United Kingdom and taken into account the findings of the House of Commons Defence Committee’s inquiry into the armed forces covenant. And we understand that fairness must not depend on geography or circumstance. That is why we have chosen a bold, inclusive approach—embedding these principles into law so that wherever you live, whatever you have given in service, that service will be honoured.
This duty will expand from three policy areas at a local level to 14 broad and vital policy areas across central Government once legislation is enacted. These are as follows:
Housing
Education
Healthcare
Social care
Childcare
Employment and service in the armed forces
Personal taxation
Welfare benefits
Criminal justice
Immigration
Citizenship
Pensions
Service-related compensation
Transport
This Government remain steadfast in our commitment not only to those who wear the uniform, but to the families who support them, and the loved ones who carry on after their loss. By placing the covenant at the heart of Government decision-making, and through the introduction of VALOUR, we are building a system that will deliver on the promise we have made. It is our ambition to include these statutory changes in the next Armed Forces Bill, which is required every five years in order for us to continue to have armed forces.
Let us be clear: the new covenant legal duty is more than a policy shift—it is a moral commitment. It is about renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve. And it is about building a future where no one in our armed forces community is left behind.
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