A new Armed Forces Covenant Toolkit is now available for local authorities, helping them to better support their local Armed Forces Community, and to work in collaboration with local partners to successfully deliver their commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a commitment by the nation to recognise the unique obligations and sacrifices made by the Armed Forces community and ensure that the community is not disadvantaged as a result of service. The Armed Forces Act 2021 introduced a new requirement for some public bodies, including local authorities, to pay due regard to the principles of the Covenant in relation to health, housing and education. This scope of the duty is expected to be further extended, covering additional policy areas and both local and national government.

Building on the previous Toolkit, this new version has been developed in collaboration with local authorities and has been updated to reflect recent developments including the introduction of a new Covenant duty.

The Toolkit remains targeted at local authorities and their direct role in supporting their local Armed Forces community. However, in recognising that local authorities are not solely responsible for delivering the Armed Forces Covenant, the Toolkit includes advice on the crucial activity of convening local partnerships to enable effective local collaborative action. The toolkit includes:

  • A core infrastructure checklist, which sets out individual roles, local partnerships, communications and commitments required for the successful delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant.
  • A self-assessment for local authorities and their partners to support them in having meaningful discussions about the Covenant and ensuring that the Armed Forces community do not face disadvantage due to their service. This includes spotting gaps in provision and where to focus future action for delivery.
  • Top tips to help local authorities and partners who are trying to improve local delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant.
  • Signposting to additional training resources.

The publication of the updated Toolkit comes ahead of the launch of the new Our Community, Our Covenant (OCOC) and Beyond report which is due to be published in Autumn 2025. The report builds upon previous OCOC reports to examine the partnerships that deliver and drive support for the Armed Forces community across England, Scotland and Wales in order to improve future Covenant delivery.

The Toolkit can be downloaded here

Tony Blake, project director for the Toolkit from Shared Intelligence, said:

“With input from local authorities and others in England, Scotland and Wales, we’ve updated the Toolkit so that it reflects current practice and the way the delivery context for the Covenant has evolved. We hope this keeps the Toolkit as a central reference for local authorities and local partnerships in supporting members of their local Armed Forces Community.”

Michelle Alston, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, said:

“The Armed Forces Covenant Toolkit has proved to be a useful resource for local authorities since we published our first Our Community, Our Covenant report with Shared Intelligence back in 2016. This updated Toolkit offers insights from those who are successfully delivering the Covenant and supporting their local Armed Forces community in the face of external pressures. The Armed Forces community play a crucial role in both military and civilian life and this Toolkit aims to empower local authorities to better support the community, ensuring they are not disadvantaged by service. I hope this toolkit is shared widely with both local authorities and their partners, helping to build awareness of the Armed Forces community and embedding the core infrastructure needed to support them.”

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