Armed Forces - commitment
The Armed Forces Covenant is a commitment to support those who are serving, have served and their families, to ensure they are not disadvantaged. The aim is to increase understanding and awareness amongst the public and employers of the issues affecting the Armed Forces community. Our Chief Executive Jim Savege signed the Armed Forces Covenant on 22nd November 2017 on behalf of the council.
The council is a proud supporter of the Armed Forces and we regard ourselves as 'Armed Forces Friendly’' Although there are no active bases from which the military services operate in Aberdeenshire, we demonstrate our commitment through the employment of veterans, reservists and cadet force adult volunteers. This is further enhanced by the numerous cadet units throughout Aberdeenshire providing links with school pupils and education.
To make sure we deliver this commitment locally, we have pledged the following key areas of support:
- The employment of veterans and reservists, working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and the Officers Association Scotland, to offer work placements and the opportunity of a pathway into working for the Council for service leavers
- We endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment
- Support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible
- We will actively encourage other organisations within Aberdeenshire to promote supporting opportunities for the Armed Forces
- We actively participate and host Armed Forces Day on an annual basis
- We will support and encourage the employment of Reservists, Veterans and their families, ensuring that they are not disadvantaged when it comes to application procedures
- We will offer support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools
- Active participation on the Highland Reserve Forces and Cadet Association at elected member level
- Acting to establish an Armed Forces Network and employee Veteran focus group
Chief Executive Jim Savage has outlined in the video clip how the council supports the Armed Forces community, examples of how we demonstrate this and what we aim to achieve.
If you would like to learn more about how you can support this covenant, we are happy to share our experiences.