1. As part of the military covenant between the Ministry of Defence (the Department) and its personnel, the provision of resettlement support allows serving personnel to serve, secure in the knowledge that they will receive assistance to prepare them for life and future employment when they leave the Services. The Department believes that a robust and effective system of resettlement provision is a fundamental pillar of personnel support and a tangible manifestation of the Armed Forces' commitment to be an employer of first choice.[2]

2.  The level of support received by personnel is generally in proportion to their length of service. The majority of Service Leavers get resettlement assistance from staff within the Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air Force and employment support from a central contracted out service, the Career Transition Partnership. In addition, Service Leavers are given a grant of £534 towards any training they undertake and are granted up to 35 days paid resettlement time to prepare for their return to civilian life.

3.  Since April 2004, Service Leavers who have served less than four years get some limited assistance in making their transition to civilian life. This assistance, known as first line support, is mainly delivered by personnel in the individual Services and includes a mandatory interview which signposts help from Jobcentre Plus and other external sources. Individuals assessed as vulnerable in this interview can be offered additional help, including some assistance from the Career Transition Partnership. Any member of the Armed Forces who is medically discharged is entitled to the full resettlement package regardless of how long they have served.[3]

4.  Many of the Service Leavers who receive the full resettlement package are very able people and are likely to secure civilian employment and accommodation without the support of the Department. However, many of the Early Service Leavers are likely to experience problems when they return to civilian life.[4] The Department regards resettlement as a reward for long service and an encouragement to people to continue to serve. It recognised that there was a difficult balance to be struck but believed that it had continued to improve its support for Early Service Leavers since the initial introduction of this support in 2004.[5]

5.  Early Service Leavers receive less support than other Service Leavers. In addition, in the Army, the support is delivered by staff with no specialist training and who are themselves subject to a very high turnover. Very few Early Service Leavers had been referred on to the Career Transition Partnership for further support.[6] Building on recommendations by the National Audit Office, the Department will be introducing a better training package for resettlement staff, and improved oversight and monitoring of first line support.[7]

6.  Service Leavers are required to complete many complex and bureaucratic forms to obtain resettlement support. They are required to obtain authorisation and signatures from multiple sources because responsibility for different aspects of resettlement rests in many quarters. For example, approval for absence from work rests with individual military units and there are also several potential streams of funding on which to draw.[8] The Department has recently reduced the number of forms from 11 to eight but considers it needs to maintain a proper audit trail to ensure adequate stewardship of public funds.[9]

3   C&AG's Report, paras 1.6, 1.10; Figure 3 Back

4   Early Service Leavers are those who have served less than four years in the Armed Forces or have been compulsorily discharged. Back

5   Qq 2-6 Back

6   C&AG's Report, paras 2.31-2.33 Back

7   Qq 26-27 Back

8   C&AG's Report, para 2.24 Back

9   Qq 7-8 Back