As David Cameron visits British forces in Afghanistan, issues surrounding the Military Covenant - the moral imperative to support service personnel during and after their service - have surfaced at home.
An interim report from the Ministry of Defence on the covenant has been published on Tuesday afternoon, and suggests there's still a long way to go in achieving a proper support structure for British troops and families. Problems with housing, education and access to healthcare appear to persist, although the government says it's accelerating work in these areas.
Those representing rank-and-file officers contribute to the report on a pay freeze for many service personnel, saying they "remain deeply concerned at the cumulative effect of the pay freeze, allowances cuts and changes to pensions indexing."
It's acknowledged in the report that failures in other areas are having a real impact on the morale of service personnel and their readiness to serve. Federations representing all three sections of the armed forces contributed to the report, and described themselves as "extremely disappointed and frustrated" in the ongoing problems with Service Family Accommodation (SFA), where there has been a so-called "pause" in funding.
The federations say that "higher priority must be given to maintaining and enhancing the quality of Service-provided accommodation, since where and how an airman/soldier/sailor lives has a direct impact on his or her operational effectiveness and willingness to serve."
On the health of service personnel, the report concedes that while "much progress has been made in healthcare, we remain concerned at the impact of mobility on Service family members required to cross either PCT or country boundaries as a result of an assignment and who find themselves faced with differing funding provision and eligibility criteria.
And on education, the Ministry of Defence admits that: "It is clear that specific disadvantages are still in evidence for serving personnel, their partners and children," although the MoD insists that many measures, including the government's pupil premium, will help to alleviate these problems.
Contributors to the report from outside government also express concern that reservists will increasingly expect to see active duty, and that this will present issues which the government needs to look at urgently.
Professor Hew Strachan from Oxford University notes several areas being overlooked regarding reservists:
One is the use of the Pupil Premium for the support of Reservists’ children while they are deployed. Another is the medical support given to Reservists on return from operations, particularly in the area of mental health since Reservists are reported to suffer more in this respect than Regulars. In general the impact of the reform of Reserves on the families of Reservists, who do not enjoy the same levels of unit support afforded Regulars, will need careful monitoring.
The report was drafted before the Armed Services Act was passed in November, but the report notes that many of the areas of concern would need to be addressed in other bills before Parliament, including the Health and Social Care Bill currently making its way through the House of Lords.
The government says it will publish its final report on the Military Covenant in the early part of 2012.