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 the most such as the injured and the bereaved.

You may have come across these two sentences before.  They are the twin principles (enshrined in law since 2011) that underpin the Armed Forces Covenant.  They are our mantras in the MOD Armed Forces Covenant team, and we try to live by them whilst delivering the Government's policy.  Sounds simple in theory, but it can prove to be extremely complex in practice. 

The unique nature of service life means that the Armed Forces community is often a very mobile one, moving to different parts of the country or overseas every two years on average.

As you can imagine, this can have a negative effect on a Service person's ability to: access social housing; get a mortgage; claim certain benefits; secure a place on NHS/GP waiting lists; place their children in a school of their choice; or build up a decent credit history.  The Armed Forces Covenant aims to address these issues and encourage both central and local Government to take these special circumstances into account in their policy making and service delivery.

Formed at the same time as the Covenant's inception, the MOD team consists of five full time personnel.  We are a small team facing a big challenge, helping to deliver this major cross Government initiative.  So good communications and effective collaboration are vital to us. 

The Armed Forces Covenant brand is supported by two sub-brands, the Community Covenant – which aims to bring the local civilian and Military communities closer together and to support the Armed Forces community at the local level, and the Corporate Covenant - specific pledges of support from the business world. 

Over the past year, society has increasingly gripped these opportunities to demonstrate its support for the Armed Forces community.  In his 2014 annual report on the Covenant, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said he was personally delighted to note that every Local Authority in mainland Great Britain had signed up to a Community Covenant; and at the time, over 370 (now over 580) businesses/organisations both large and small had signed the Corporate Covenant. 

This is really great news for the Armed Forces community, who I hope you'll agree, deserve our respect and support in recognition of their service and the ultimate price they can sometimes pay.  We now need to make sure we can deliver on these very publicly made promises.  A point acknowledged by Michael Fallon in the same report.    

ln January, Anna Soubry, the former Minister for Defence Personnel, Veterans and Welfare wrote to every local authority, asking them for an update on their achievements since signing the Corporate Covenant.  It's clear from the responses that a lot of great things are being delivered. 

For example:  amending housing , health and education policies to consider the needs of the Armed Forces community i.e. granting of local connection and allocating school places to the children of service families who have yet to move into the area; and Cross-boundary collaboration with neighbouring councils to provide a more comprehensive and cohesive service to the Armed Forces community.

The Government has sent a clear message that it wants to continue building on and celebrating this success.  Collaboration, spreading awareness, sharing best practice and improving the data we have to hand are some of the things we can do to help us to achieve this.  However, I would argue that one of the most important, is securing your commitment to really making this work. 

The Nirvana position we strive for is one where a member of the Armed Forces community receives an informed and consistent message and level of support wherever he or she comes into contact with their local authority.

So, if I was standing next to you in a bar right now, and our amiable chat turned to the Armed Forces Covenant, as well as declaring your friendship as the best ever, the key things I would ask you to do are:
 

• Understand the aims of the Armed Forces Covenant, how the Community Covenant supports these aims and how the Local Authority can uphold the Covenant. 
• Actively communicate the Community Covenant and the Community Partnership's work in taking it forward both in and outside the organisation.
• Consider how the needs of the Armed Forces Community are reflected in council policies and service delivery, recognising the unique nature of Armed Forces service.
• Ensure that staff who have daily contact with the public are aware of the Covenant and understand how it impacts upon local services and delivery.
• Indentify whether your organisation employs any members of the Armed Forces Community and ensure that any employment practices take the issues and concerns of the Armed Forces Community into account.

This would really help us to take some giant steps towards achieving our goals.

The Covenant team will be represented at the annual Local Government Association conference on 30 June to 2 July.  We are delighted to be able to offer a fringe event in collaboration with the Service Families Federations and the Army's Civilian Engagement team.  The event will take place on 30 June at 18:30.  

The session will expand on some of the themes I've mentioned in this article.  The team would really encourage you to come along.  It would be great to meet as many of you as possible.  We could even have that bar chat about the Covenant perhaps!

William Lyn is responsible for MOD Armed Forces Covenant Team communications