Agenda item

To receive a report on the role of the Armed Forces Officer.

The sub-committee received a report which provided an overview of the support that was being provided to the Armed Forces Community in North Tyneside.  It was noted that in October 2018 North Tyneside Council employed a permanent, full time Armed Forces Officer to strengthen delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant across North Tyneside for the serving and veteran armed forces community.  A major aspect of the role was to enable the direct provision of support to those who serve or had served in the armed forces, and their families.

It was noted that the definition of a veteran was anyone who had served in the military for one day.  This definition was set out by the Armed Forces Covenant which North Tyneside Council signed in 2012.  Previously, the council had been affiliated to the Armed Forces Outreach Scheme which relied on grants from the Armed Forces Covenant on a regular basis.  North Tyneside Council recognised the need to support their Armed Forces Community and the importance of having continuity with this support, and decided to fund their own Armed Forces Officer.

The Armed Forces officer worked with services across the authority and with partners to ensure that members of the Armed Forces Community were treated fairly and that North Tyneside Council continued to honour the commitment set out in the Armed Forces Covenant.  The Armed Forces Officer acted as a single point of contact for all armed forces related enquiries into the Council and coordinated services in accordance with the objectives of the Armed Forces Covenant.

A number of activities were undertaken to help achieve the objectives of the Armed Forces Covenant.  Case work was referred from the Armed Forces Charity and support would be provided to existing and potential council residents with the clearing rent and/or council tax arrears.  Support was also provided to those at risk of eviction from a private tenancy and help with brown and white goods.  It was explained that individual assessments would be carried out to determine if people were eligible for support and any arrears paid would be done so from funds from military charities.

In relation to homelessness, it was explained that, since October 2018, 18 veterans had presented to the authority as homeless or at risk of being homeless.  Of those 18, 2 had gone into supported accommodation, 2 secured a private tenancy and 5 a council tenancy.  The other applicants had moved out of the area, dropped out of the service or reconciled with their partner.  It was noted that those leaving the army, and for the following 5 years, would be allocated band 2 (high housing need) on the housing register.

The sub-committee asked if the role of the Armed Forces Officer was as a coordinator or to be directly involved in the provision of support services.  It was explained that the role covered both aspects, where sometimes signposting of other services was required and other times there would be direct involvement in case work.  It was noted that the officer in the role had developed good working relationships with armed forces charities.  Since the role was developed in October 2018, there had been 106 referrals to the Armed Forces Officer.

Members were informed that North Council Tyneside led and maintained a large outward facing armed forces forum with representation from armed forces charities, public sector organisations including Northumbria Police, private sector companies including Morrisons and the local military.  Having signed the Armed Forces Community Covenant in 2012 the Forum pledged their support once again with a new Armed Forces Covenant in October 2018 reinforcing support to the armed forces community.

The Chair thanked the Armed Forces Officer for the information presented to the sub-committee.

It was agreed to note the report.