I am passionate about supporting our Armed Forces. I believe that ensuring that our veterans are properly supported is vital in strengthening our communities and so I am honoured to be taking the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees (Reform) Bill through Parliament.
Overview of the VAPCs
- There are 12 Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees (VAPCs) across the UK. They are an MOD-sponsored independent advisory non-departmental public body made up of volunteer members appointed by the Minister for Defence, People and Veterans.
- Under their current statutory enabling power - the Social Security Act 1989 - the VAPCs engage at the local level with certain members of the Armed Forces Community, in particular by raising awareness of the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Schemes, providing assistance to those in receipt of compensation, and making representations and recommendations to Government regarding the local provision of those schemes.
- As such, the VAPCs offer useful localised independent insight to the MOD on some of the experiences of, and challenges faced by, some members of the Armed Forces Community.
Purpose of reform
- In recent years/he VAPCs have started to take on a broader (non-statutory) role in raising awareness of, and providing advice on, a wider suite of Government initiatives of potential interest to all veterans and their families, such as the Armed Forces Covenant.
- The purpose of this Bill is to modernise the statutory basis of the VAPCs to bring it more into line with that broader role the VAPCs now play, and enable Government to make changes to their functions more easily in the future.
- This Bill introduces small and sensible reforms to ensure that the statutory basis of the VAPCs continues to reflect the on-the-ground reality of the important work they do for the Armed Forces Community across the UK.
What the Bill will do
The Bill seeks to effect four main changes:
a) Move the VAPCs' enabling power over from the Social Security Act to the Armed Forces Act 2006, a more suitable home given that their sponsoring body is the MOD.
b) Widen the cohort of the Armed Forces Community in scope of the VAPCs' statutory functions to include all veterans and their families (at present, their statutory scope only extends to those applying for, or in receipt of, the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Schemes).
c) Correspondingly widen the scope of the VAPCs functions to cover other aspects of Ministry of Defence veterans' services, beyond just the compensation schemes.
d) Enable Government in future to issue terms of reference under statute to the VAPCs (providing greater guidance to them on their activities), and enable Government to make changes to their statutory functions more easily in future.
Benefits
- The Bill will empower the VAPCs to continue to offer broad-based support to the Armed Forces Community in their area. It reflects the Government's ongoing commitment to our Armed Forces Community and our aim to make the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran.
- It will also help to ensure that we harness the local independent insights of the VAPCs as we implement the new Armed Forces Covenant statutory duty - contained in the Armed Forces Act 2021 - which will apply to local authorities and other local public bodies across the UK.
Devolution implications
- There are 12 VAPCs across the UK, including one each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In this way, the VAPCs serve the Armed Forces Community right across our Union.
- The VAPCs are an NDPB of the UK Government and report directly to the MOD. As such, these reforms will be of a reserved nature. The UK Government continues to work closely with the Devolved Administrations to ensure the success of these reforms and the ongoing work of the VAPCs in all four home nations.
