Paul Burstow MP thanked for pledging to "do his bit" for British Armed Forces

12.12.47pm GMT Sat 6th Feb 2010

Paul Burstow MP pledging to do his bit for the British Armed Forces family.

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam has been thanked for pledging to do his bit for the British Armed Forces family.

Paul Burstow met with a delegation from The Royal British Legion at Westminster to get behind the charity's call for general election candidates of all parties to support the whole Armed Forces family. Paul Burstow also discussed the Legion's manifesto and the changes that it is calling for and the Veterans Welfare Bill he is co-sponsoring in Parliament.

The manifesto sets out priorities for the next Government to improve conditions for the British Armed Forces past and present and their families. It encourages MPs to "do their bit" for Service Personnel and their families, the bereaved, veterans and dependants.

During the meeting, Paul Burstow MP was photographed with a giant replica of the personalised pledge card, which he has been given by the Legion in recognition of his pledge.

Kevin Shinkwin, the Legion's Head of Public Affairs, said, "We're delighted to give Paul his pledge card in recognition of his pledge to do his bit. Our message to every MP and candidate standing at the general election is very simple: "It's time to do your bit. How you do that is entirely up to you but pledging publicly at www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk is a great way of showing your support for the whole Armed Forces family, both now and beyond the general election."

"Both the serving and ex-Service community need the support of politicians," he added. "Our manifesto outlines practical ways the next government can help, and we hope all the parties will give it serious consideration".

Paul Burstow MP said, "I was really pleased to pledge to do my bit and to get my pledge card from the Legion. Having spent 6 months shadowing the Legion I know the work they do for the whole Armed Forces family matters not just to me, but to so many of my constituents as well. It's so important we all get behind them, and I'm looking forward to seeing how my party responds to their manifesto.

'Making the Government's responsibilities to our veterans explicit and ensuring that information on welfare is accessible can only improve the quality of services offered to former servicemen and women around the UK.'

'It is only right that the assistance offered to our veterans after they leave the armed forces reflects the extent of the sacrifices that so many of them have made on our behalf. I believe that the measures proposed in my Bill would be a positive first step towards addressing the failures that have left some veterans isolated, vulnerable and out of pocket.'

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The Royal British Legion is the nation's leading Armed Forces charity providing care and support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present and their families. It is also the national Custodian of Remembrance and safeguards the Military Covenant between the nation and its Armed Forces. It is best known for the annual Poppy Appeal and its emblem the red poppy -- www.britishlegion.org.uk.

Paul Burstow MP is pictured being presented by Legion staff member, Bethan Herbert, with a giant replica of the personalised pledge card which he has been given in recognition of his pledge.

The outline of the Veterans' Welfare Bill Mr Burstow co-sponsored today (13 January) is as follows:

'That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to review and report to Parliament annually on the support provided to armed forces veterans across the United Kingdom in respect of access to health services, access to welfare schemes and access to other support, and for connected purposes.'

Proposals in the Veterans' Welfare Bill will include:

 The establishment in statute of a Code on Veterans' Welfare ('the Veterans' Covenant') which will set out a 'duty of care' to veterans and the right to an individual 'needs assessment' (at the time of leaving the armed forces and at key points in later life) which spells out to which health, financial and other services they should have priority access and an agreed means for producing a monitoring report, at appropriate points, showing how they have accessed those services

 Placing a duty on the Ministry of Defence to implement the Veterans' Covenant by (1) leading and co-ordinating the work of UK government departments and liaising with the devolved administrations; (2) maintaining a Register of Veterans which records the needs assessments and results of the monitoring reports; and (3) preparing an analysis of the issues arising from a review of the monitoring reports

 Requiring the Ministry of Defence to report to Parliament annually on the implementation of the Code and the review of the Register of Veterans

Background information:

Problems faced by veterans include:

 Priority access to the health service (including mental health services)(1)

 Access to housing and employment advice (2)

 Lack of financial support (3)

Current failings:

 Veterans who need help are often unaware of the support they are entitled to claim. (4)

 Those responsible for providing assistance are often unclear of the requirements. (5)

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1 Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats have shown that only 50 of the total 31,700 individuals in Scotland eligible for a war pension benefited from the NHS priority treatment scheme between the introduction of the programme in 2008 and July 2009.

2 Research conducted by York University on behalf of the Ex-Service Action Group on Homelessness suggested that there were around 1,100 homeless veterans in London during 2008. www.veterans-aid.net/pdf/esag.pdf

3 Research from the Royal British Legion (RBL) has shown that many veterans have been forced to wait an unacceptable amount of time before receiving grants to which they are entitled. In the case of Disabled Facilities Grants, the RBL found that a number of local authorities get around statutory time limits for issuing grants by delaying taking a formal application forward until many months after the applicant initially approaches them for assistance.

4 In an Ipsos-Mori poll of 491 people who had contacted the Royal British Legion regarding War Disablement Pensions, only 36% were aware that they were entitled to priority medical treatment. www.britishlegion.org.uk/campaigning/the-legion-manifesto/veterans--their-families

5 In a 2009 survey of 500 GPs, 81% of those questioned said they knew not very much or nothing at all about priority treatment. Furthermore, 85% had not informed secondary care providers of a veteran's entitlement to priority treatment in the past 12 months. www.britishlegion.org.uk/media/205299/manifesto-veterans.pdf#nhs