Veterans the next Victims?

In 2018 a Notice to Tender was quietly promulgated by the UK Government. Essentially, private companies were invited to tender for contracts which included, but were not limited to;

Armed Forces Pay, Pensions and Military HR and Administration Services

Administration of the War Pensions Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 

MoD Medal Office 
 
Maintenance and development of existing Information System (IS) and enquiry services in support of the above services

 Provision of Veterans Enabling and Supporting Services

It is the last point that I want to address here as this is the issue that is going to affect those who have given their service to the country and are now classed as Veterans. It’s a proven fact that, for many individuals leaving the Armed Forces, the transition to civvy street is a difficult one. There are too many reasons and individual circumstances to generalise on this forum but, suffice to say, a great deal of Veterans struggle to cope.

A lot of the onus in dealing with these cases falls to Veterans charities and support groups, organisations that rely upon donations and volunteers to keep afloat. These groups carry out fantastic work, made possible by the unselfish efforts of their staff and helpers. But again, this is in a voluntary  rather than an official capacity. And there just aren’t enough of them to cope.

The void that is left in the wake of this shortfall is being filled, by necessity, through self-help groups on social media. The Facebook group, Leave No Man Behind (LNMB) is probably the best example of this. Frustrated by the sheer number of Veterans struggling to access care, advice, legal assistance and even just coping in day to day life, the Group came together very quickly to the point where its membership stands at well over 40k individuals.

And that happened organically; no fancy marketing or advertising, no monetising of the Group membership. In short, it does what it says on the tin; Veterans helping each other with advice, connections, or sometimes just a sympathetic ear from someone who knows what they’re going through.

That’s why, when I hear of the plan to outsource the Veterans’ enabling and support services, a shudder runs through me. I can think of no successful outsourcing that the MoD has conducted that has been anything less than a fiasco.

Consider the appalling reports regarding the quality of service that Sodexo is providing to current serving members of the Armed Forces. Or the previous IT farce that cost millions and provided nothing but revenue for the company involved. Or Carillion’s dismal record on service personnel’s housing quarters. Or this one;

Capita’s failure year on year to reach ANY recruitment targets has seen one of the most embarrassing campaigns to date.

I could go on…

My point is, I have yet to see the case made where outsourcing services has achieved anything other than the profit margins of the companies who win the tender. These companies are interested in nothing more than stripping their delivery to the bone in order to maximise profits and please their shareholders and Directors. And while I’m no legal expert, it still staggers me that these companies seem free from the threat of the type of penalties that apply in the private sector for breach of contract…

So here’s an idea: There are tens of thousands of Veterans out there with similar experiences and the ability to engage and connect with other Veterans who are struggling or experiencing tough times. Use them. Employ them to build a service that is fit for purpose. Rather than outsourcing Veterans’ Services to yet another vulture waiting in the wings, formalise and fund a service that will take the weight off the charities and self-help groups.

And employ the very people that this service will be used by; the Veterans themselves. By default it will become a cooperative service, the ethos being that of providing help rather than turning an obscene profit. Veterans who are struggling through a dark period will engage and connect with other Veterans because they know that individual has at least an idea of either what they’re going through or the circumstances that have caused it. And Veterans care about other Veterans; LNMB’s Facebook page is testament to that fact.

So let’s not be the next group to suffer at the hands of another poorly-executed outsourcing exercise. And let’s not continue to allow charities and volunteers to do the heavy lifting that a consolidated service should be doing.

We’re Veterans. Never victims.