I’ve signed up to the Royal British Legion’s ‘Do Your Bit’ campaign, including the Legion’s general election pledge.

I fully support the Legion’s campaign and steps the Government has taken to address some of the key areas of concern, including the review headed by Admiral the Lord Boyce on the Armed Forces Compensation scheme and the aspiration to reduce the number of cases where servicemen and women are asked to go beyond the harmony guidelines (the frequency at which we ask individuals to deploy).

Our servicemen and women deserve high-quality, comfortable healthcare support. I’m pleased therefore to learn of improved welfare support for casualties in hospitals and the substantial investment in facilities at the Headley Court rehabilitation centre. Recent additions include new 58-bed staff & patient accommodation block and a new Cognitive and Mental Health Unit. We now have six regional community-based mental health pilot schemes operating in collaboration with the NHS, on top of 15 regional rehabilitation centres. We have also extended our mental health assessment programme at St Thomas’s Hospital.

Last year the Government published the Service Personnel Command Paper, which the Royal British Legion welcomed. Among the 40 commitments in the paper are steps to ensure that:

• Service dependents can retain their place on an NHS waiting list when they move to a new area.
• Injured personnel can access grants of up to £30,000 to adapt their homes, without their compensation payments being means-tested.
• Seriously injured personnel are entitled to privileged access to affordable housing schemes in England.
• Service personnel in England and Wales can claim a local connection in housing applications like any other applicants – we hope Scotland will follow suit this year.
• Priority status is given to service personnel in affordable housing schemes, including an ability to apply 12 months after discharge.

The key objectives of the Legion’s campaign can be found here.

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