Armed Forces Covenant

Armed Forces serving personnel, veterans, reservists and their families are valued members of our communities. All councils have signed the voluntary Armed Forces Covenant and are fully committed to honouring their obligations to those who have served their country.


Councils work with partner organisations to provide a range of services that support serving personnel and their families. Councils also support veterans and their families to adjust from the Armed Forces to civilian life, including housing, money advice, employment support, schools and health and wellbeing services.

The Armed Forces Act 2021 introduced a new requirement for some public bodies, including local authorities and the NHS, to pay due regard to the principles of the Covenant when carrying out specific functions in the areas of housing, healthcare and education. Guidance to public bodies will be laid before Parliament in due course.

The LGA supports a network of council officers with lead responsibility for the Armed Forced Covenant. The Network provides an opportunity for councils to feed into LGA policy development, influence Government policy and a space to discuss evolving issues and approaches. If your council would like to join the network please email [email protected].

LGA documents

Ministry of Defence documents

Other useful links