Extend the Armed Forces Covenant in Law

*UPDATE: JULY 2025*

ARMED FORCES COVENANT TO BE FULLY ENSHRINED IN LAW

The UK Government has confirmed that the Armed Forces Covenant will be fully enshrined in law later this year. This is a big step forward, and something our Charity has long campaigned for, alongside our veterans and supporters like you.

WHAT IS THE ARMED FORCES COVENANT?

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, will be treated fairly. It recognises the unique sacrifices of military life and aims to ensure that no member of the Armed Forces community faces disadvantage when accessing public services. In some cases, such as injury or bereavement, they should receive special consideration.

What does the law currently say?

Since 2021, certain public bodies, like local councils and the NHS, have had a legal duty to consider the Covenant when delivering services in housing, healthcare, and education. This means they must think about the impact of their decisions on veterans, service personnel, and their families.

What’s changing?

The legal duty will no longer apply to those public bodies only. Now, the UK Government has announced that the Covenant will be fully enshrined in law across all government departments and devolved administrations. For the first time, this will extend the legal duty to cover a wider range of services, including employment, benefits, social care, transport, criminal justice, and more. 

What does this mean in practice?

These changes mean veterans and their families will have stronger legal backing when accessing public services. Whether you're applying for housing, navigating healthcare, starting a new job, or supporting your child through a school move, public bodies will now have to actively consider your unique circumstances by law.

The changes will come into effect through the Armed Forces Bill later this year. We’ll be keeping a close eye on its developments and share any information as soon as we can. You can read about our position and campaign work from before the decision, below. You can also read the full announcement on the GOV.UK website.

WHAT WE CALLED FOR

Help for Heroes has been calling upon the UK Government for some time, to extend the statutory powers of the Armed Forces Covenant. This would mean its legal duty would cover national and devolved governments and all areas of public policy, including social care, employment, pensions, compensation and immigration, instead of just housing, healthcare and education.

Why did things need to change?

The Armed Forces Act 2021 put the promise of the Covenant on a legal footing for the first time. However, while the majority of the public believed it was the responsibility of national government to deliver, the UK Government had exempted itself from the new duty to give due regard to the Covenant in decision-making and policy development. Instead, only some limited public bodies (mainly local councils) were subject to the new duty.

We believed this wasn't right, when responsibility for many of the issues concerning our Armed Forces community rests with national government.

We believed that national government should be brought within the scope of the new legal duty and that the full range of policy areas protected by the Covenant should be extended to include all issues affecting the Armed Forces community. The power to do so already existed and exists within the legislation and it is within the power of the Secretary of State for Defence to enact.

What we did

• As a military charity, we have consistently maintained that the Covenant should be strengthened as much as possible in law. As such, we have been involved in various levels of consultation conducted by the Ministry of Defence throughout the development of the legislation since early 2020.
• In 2023, we included this ask as one of our top priorities for veterans at the next General Election.
• We have met with MPs and officials from numerous political parties in support of extending the Armed Forces Act 2021.
• We also established regular dialogue with key officials to further improve the Armed Forces Covenant through secondary legislation and shape the Office for Veterans’ Affairs research priorities on the Armed Forces Community.

If you would like more information on this campaign, please contact our Senior Public Affairs and Policy Manager Ted Arnold at ted.arnold@helpforheroes.org.uk