Armed Forces Strategy supported by West Sussex councillors

By Karen Dunn, local democracy reporter
Published 23rd Mar 2021, 14:53 BST
A previous Armed Forces DayA previous Armed Forces Day
A previous Armed Forces Day
Councillors have unanimously backed West Sussex County Council’s draft Armed Forces Strategy.

The strategy, which lays out the work the council has carried out and will carry out to support current and former service personnel, was discussed during a meeting of the full council on Friday (March 19).

Peter Bradbury (Con, Cuckfield & Lucastes), who was appointed Armed Forces Champion in 2020, has been involved with the preparation of the strategy for more than a year.

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He said: “It embeds our obligations into the DNA of the council.

“So it’s not just something where we’ve ticked a box and got a certificate somewhere. It becomes part of the day-to-day working of the council.”

West Sussex signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant in 2012 and achieved a Gold Award from South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association last year.

The key principles of the Covenant are:

• That no member of the Armed Forces community should face disadvantage in the provision of services compared with any other citizen.

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• That, in some circumstances, special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.

The aim of the strategy is to uphold those principles by:

• Recognising the sacrifices made by the armed forces community

• Encouraging support for the armed forces community