Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has initiated with military charities on minimising duplication of effort and gaps in provision.
Mark Lancaster
The Service Charities Partnership Board (SCPB) is the most senior MOD Forum with charities and is attended by the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO), The Royal British Legion and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association.
Our structured engagement serves to help identify gaps in current provision and increase coherence. The SCPB meets quarterly chaired by the Chief of Defence People with an annual Ministerial-led meeting attended by a broader spectrum of Armed Forces charities. Armed Forces charities are also represented at the MOD Welfare Conference, Bi-annual Defence Recovery Board, and the Armed Forces Covenant Reference Group.
The MOD continues to pursue a number of initiatives to increase coherence and minimising duplication of effort amongst the many Service Charities, including producing clear strategies in areas such as Mental Health; Wellbeing; and a Families Strategy, which will help provide a clear and better direction to co-ordinate work in these areas as well as helping to identify gaps in the current provision.
