New research to investigate the impact of the Armed Forces Covenant

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded £221,000 to Shared Intelligence in partnership with RAND Europe and Meri Mayhew Consulting to examine the impact of the Armed Forces Covenant.

The project will follow on from the previous Our Community-Our Covenant reports and will go beyond examining how the Armed Forces Covenant is delivered, to evaluate the impact of the Covenant in reducing disadvantage for the Armed Forces Community and how the work of public sector organisations has developed as a result. This UK-wide project will provide a baseline for future impact evaluation before certain aspects of the Covenant are enshrined into law through the anticipated Armed Forces Bill 2021. The project will also explore the impact of Covid-19, and other challenges, on the public sector’s ability to deliver the Covenant, as well as identifying areas of best practice where success can be shared.

The project team will conduct surveys and interviews with stakeholders in local authorities, other public sector organisations, Armed Forces charities and members of the Armed Forces Community. This will enable the team to better understand the extent to which the Covenant has contributed to reducing disadvantage across key policy and delivery areas of education, health, housing, children’s services, adult social care and employment.

This 12-month project commenced in June 2021. If you would like to find out more, or be involved in the project, please contact Charlotte Boulton at charlotte.boulton@sharedintelligence.net

Thomas McBarnet, Director of Programmes at Forces in Mind Trust, says:

“I am delighted that we have commissioned this project which continues our ongoing scrutiny of Covenant delivery and the realities of tangible change. Our previous Our Community-Our Covenant reports have been invaluable resources for the Services charity sector, local authorities and Government, and I hope this new study can deliver the same impact.

“As aspects of the Covenant progress toward being enshrined into law, this study will allow us to understand what is being done, baseline existing delivery so as to measure progress in the future, and provide another important resource for service deliverers and public sector organisations in delivering on their responsibility of ensuring no member of the Armed Forces is disadvantaged as the result of service.”

Phil Swann, Director at Shared Intelligence, says:

“We are proud of Our Community Our Covenant and the way it has helped councils to ensure that members of the Armed Forces Community do not suffer disadvantage. The challenge of evaluating the impact of the Covenant is an important and exciting one, as is the opportunity to produce a resource to help all local public providers to better meet the needs of service personnel, veterans and their families. We know from our previous work that councils, the health service, schools and other organisations are committed to delivering the Covenant. Our ambition is to produce the evidence and good practice to help them deliver that commitment even more effectively.”