Councillor Paul Hinge, Member Champion for the Armed Forces was

                welcomed to present the report.  Councillor Matthew Vaux, Cabinet

                Member apologised for his inability to attend the meeting.

                Councillor Hinge advised the Committee that the Armed Forces Act 2021

                clause 8 introduced a new requirement for certain public bodies, including

                Local Authorities, to pay due regard to the principles of the Armed Forces

                Covenant. He advised that the Council will need to comply with the

                new law which came into force on the 22^nd November 2022. The relevant

                council functions are Housing, Education and Drug and Alcohol services.

                The Armed Forces Act 2021 enshrines the Armed Forces Covenant into

                law placing a legal obligation on public bodies to prevent service   

                personnel, reservists and their families being disadvantaged when

                accessing public services. The Armed Forces Act 2021 received Royal

                Ascent on the 15th of December 2021.

                The draft Statutory Guidance for the Armed Forces Covenant Duty was

                laid before parliament in July 2022.

                 The Committee were advised of the current situation in that delivering its

                 current commitments, the Council does pay due regard to the

                 requirements of the Armed Forces Community, and it has sought to

                 positively build upon its commitment since its initial pledge. This has led to

                 direct amendments being made to Council policies as part of its

                 commitment to the Covenant. This is particularly evident in the Work-life

                 balance policy that supports flexible working options and recognises the

                 clear need for armed service personnel and reservist to have additional

                 authorised periods of absence to support their additional commitments.

                 Councillor Hinge gave two excellent examples of where the Authority had

                 supported a reservist and their families recently.

                 Also, through the provision of a secretariat function, Ceredigion County

                 Council has also led on the establishment of the Ceredigion Armed

                 Forces Community Forum which works with an extensive range of   

                 partners to continually raise the profile of the Armed Forces Community.

                 Through direct interventions and partnership working Ceredigion County

                 Council have recently endorsed their commitment to the Defence

                 Employer Recognition Scheme and its positive interventions have

                 successfully achieved both Bronze and Silver Recognition Awards.

                 In addition to the above, arrangements are being made to promote

                 additional training and awareness via on-line training which will prepare

                 services for this legislation. This will be promoted through Learning and

                 Development. Consideration will also be given to reviewing Education and

                 Housing policies to ensure consistency with the Armed Forces Covenant.

                 The Statutory Guidance will be considered along with any advice and

                 good practice examples which will be utilised to further enhance provision

                 and ensure compliance.

                 PROPOSED ACTIONS

                 In addition to the work that the Council already undertakes, it is proposed

                 that the following additional steps are taken to prepare for the duty:

·       Explore opportunities to improve data capture by services. The Regional

                 Armed Forces Liaison Officer will advise on the categories that individual

                 services will need to be using.

                During discussion, the following points were noted:

·       There is grant funding available for children of up to £2,000 per child depending on requirements,

·       Employees and Elected members to be encouraged to book the Armed Forces Covenant awareness sessions via CERINET.

                Following discussion, Committee Members agreed to note the obligations

                of the Armed Forces Act 2021.