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More support for armed
forces veterans
LIVERPOOL City Council is set to
bid for funding to provide more support for armed forces veterans in the
City.
A report to the cabinet meeting on 2 October recommends that an application
be made to the government's 'Covenant Fund' for funding to help former
servicemen and women into employment and, in particular, setting up their
own businesses. And, if successful, the funding will also be used to develop
a programme to help veterans who have ended up in prison.
These are among a number of measures aimed at supporting former service
personnel and strengthening the City's reputation as a forces friendly City.
In March 2012 Liverpool became the 1st area to sign a
'Community Covenant',
encouraging local communities to support the armed forces and promoting
public understanding and awareness.
Now the Council is being recommended to sign a 'Corporate Covenant' to
demonstrate Liverpool's continued support to the armed forces community and
show its commitment through a number of measures which ensure that no
service personnel are disadvantaged.
Since signing the 'Community Covenant' a number of initiatives, arranged by
the Making It Happen Veterans Group established by the Council, have been
introduced. These include:-
► Establishing the Liverpool Veterans HQ ,
the 1st pop in shop of its type in the Country.
►
Revising the housing waiting list criteria
to ensure retiring service personnel are not disadvantaged if they have
served outside the City.
► A dedicated addiction centre for veterans.
► Setting up the
1st GP referral protocol
in the Country.
► Piloting of the veterans in custody
programme.
However, it is recognised that issues
facing veterans about employment and enterprise could be improved,
especially in relation to business start ups and skilled employment in areas
such as technology and construction.
It is being proposed that more support is given to veterans to acquire
skills, knowledge, and expertise through training programmes and help them
explore self employment which could see a minimum of 400 people looking to
start up businesses over the next 3 years and more than 1600 other
people benefitting from the training.
It is intended that X-Forces a social enterprise which provides services to
the military community will deliver the programme.
It is also being proposed to employ a manager for the Veterans in Custody
Programme. Nearly 13% of the prison population are ex-service personnel. A
pilot project has been developed with HMP Liverpool to support their
families and it is now being proposed to expand the programme so every
veteran in custody has a peer mentor.
A bid is to be made for £500,000 over three years from the Covenant Fund,
established by the government to fund these programmes with the
Council
making a £50,000 contribution to the employment programme.
Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said:- "Liverpool has always fully
supported the armed forces. We recognise the debt our City and Country owes
to these men and women.
We were the first Council in the Country to sign the Community Covenant and
backed that up with practical actions such as the establishment of the
centre in Breck Road which provides advice and help on issues such as
housing, education and jobs. We are going to sign the Corporate
Covenant as a public demonstration of our continued support for the armed
forces and make service personnel aware that they will receive help in
practical ways. But we also want to build on what we have already
delivered. There are issues over employment and a major way we can help deal
with these is supporting some veterans into self-employment, not only is it
good for them as individuals, but new start up businesses are a great boost
to the City's economy. And unfortunately, a disproportionate number of
former service personnel find themselves in prison, for whatever reason. We
are looking to support their families and help in their rehabilitation.
Hopefully our bid to the Covenant Fund will be successful so we can expand
the ways we help former service men and women." |
