| ARMED FORCES WELFARE PATHWAY LAUNCHED
A pilot Welfare Pathway initiative aimed at improving access to help, advice and benefits for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families was launched in Kent on Wednesday 4 November 2009.
Veterans Minister Kevan Jones (left) meeting a serviceman and his family at the launch of the Welfare Pathway in Kent. [Picture: Allan House, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
The Welfare Pathway gives further support to the Armed Forces community by offering a point of contact and advice to unlock information on welfare and support available to them - both statutory and from the third sector (charities).
The Armed Forces community will be able to get advice on such things as priority healthcare, housing and education as well as link in with Service and veterans charities and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The pathway was launched in a ceremony attended by Veterans Minister Kevan Jones and senior representatives of Kent County Council. Kent County Council is the first local authority to pilot the Welfare Pathway. Members of the Armed Forces community will be able to access advice on their entitlements by visiting the council's Gateway centres across Kent, which are partnerships between county and district councils that include the National Health Service and voluntary and community organisations.
A national helpline for Armed Forces personnel to get advice and direction on how best to access help and welfare support due to them was also announced.
The mobile nature of the Armed Forces means that, for many, finding information on the help and support available to them and where to seek out that support can be a daunting and often frustrating task. With the new initiative the MOD and Kent County Council hope to ease the journey through the welfare maze and create a model of excellence to be replicated across the country.
Announcing the initiative, Veterans Minister Kevan Jones said:
"This is a significant step forward in the way that our servicemen and women, their families and veterans can access help and advice about the things that are important to them. The Welfare Pathway] is a significant step forward in the way that our servicemen and women, their families and veterans can access help and advice about the things that are important to them."
"By making one phone call, or visiting one of the local Kent Gateways, the Armed Forces community can access advice on what they are entitled to.
"The support that our people deserve is out there and we want to make sure that they can take full advantage of that. I would like to thank Kent County Council for all their support."
John Davies, Chairman of Kent County Council, said:
"Kent County Council is delighted to be the first local authority in the UK to pilot this joint initiative between local and central government.
"Kent has strong links to the Armed Forces; servicemen and women and veterans are an important part of the wider Kent community.
"Here at the Tunbridge Wells Gateway we have a dedicated team of people ready to help. If there is a problem with what people are entitled to, there is now a simple route to raise issues and get things resolved.
"This council is immensely proud to be at the forefront of delivering local services to the Armed Forces community."
With more than 5,000 current Service personnel and their families stationed in Kent, and many more veterans, Kent County Council was seen as the ideal local authority to pilot the Welfare Pathway. Indeed, the Welfare Pathway has already proved its worth. When Lance Corporal Ricky Smith of 2 (South East) Brigade returned to the UK from being stationed in Munster in Germany he had little experience of the UK welfare system and what support was available for his new family and five-month-old son.
Veterans Minister Kevan Jones signs the concordat on the Welfare Pathway with representatives of Kent County Council and Service charities
[Picture: Allan House, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
Lance Corporal Smith explained:
"When we left Germany we had quite a few teething problems getting access to healthcare and benefits as we have never lived in this area. But with this new scheme we found it was the place to go for answers.
I was in Germany for a year but got married just before we left so coming back was the first time in the UK as a family, which was quite hard. But now there is a system in place to find out the information you need. We weren't claiming for working tax credit but we found out you can with this new scheme, so it has benefited us. It's been a big help.
When the word is out on the street on what it is about I think a lot of people will benefit from it, especially troops coming back from overseas and getting used to life in the UK again."
His views were echoed by Major Tristan Kemp, Chief of Staff at 2 (South East) Brigade, based in Shorncliffe.
Major Kemp said:
"We are in many ways a transient population; a lot of us move around the country and around the world. When you arrive somewhere you have never been before you have to very quickly get used to it and learn things fast, which can be hard .This new service just helps you get up and running. It can help with many things, for example finding school places for children or access to local healthcare.
It's been really good for our Service families especially. It will also be a real help for the younger members of the brigade, who are perhaps a little less experienced. On the back of what we've seen here it should be a real benefit when it expands across the country. I know it is eagerly anticipated."
Several other local authorities will now establish similar pilot programmes across the UK with the intention being to roll-out a best practice model to cover all areas.
Some of the benefits that serving personnel, their families and veterans can receive are: advice about access to NHS services; information about help for veterans with mental health problems; help and advice about education, skills and careers, and affordable and social housing; help with transport including Blue Badges and concessionary transport; and advice about, and access to, affordable childcare.
In addition, the new national helpline telephone number - 08000 22 33 66 - gives callers a single point of contact so that they can be directed to the right people to help and advise them.
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