.PS4 Engagement with Charities. As well as the Desk Lead for the Armed Forces Covenant, I am also the focal point for Charity Engagement for the Army. PS4 is keen to better engage with those charities who are members of Cobseo. I see the Serving Cluster as the right vehicle to start this engagement and sense I can become a more active Member as time progresses. I would very much like to discuss further at the next Cluster what help and support you see PS4 providing within the known limitations? Is this an awareness issue for both Service and Charity? – E.g. Scope, priorities, delivery space and understanding the delivery gap and where Charities can help and support the Armed Forces.
Army Command Review (ACR). The ACR implementation Programme seeks to design, orchestrate and implement changes to the Army Headquarters in order to improve the efficiency and productivity of its functions and the effectiveness with which change is developed and delivered in support of strategic intent. The design phase of the ACR is coming to an end and the next stage will involve detailed implementation. Further communications are expected by the end of Oct 15.
Army Welfare Forum (AWF). DPS(A) will chair the annual AWF on Thu 19 Nov 15 at Army Headquarters, Andover. The AWF assists D Pers in the construction and dissemination of Personnel policy within the Army, including in-service welfare, health, wellbeing and support to transition. It also provides direction for the formulation of Army welfare policy by informing in-Service and charitable organisations of any policy developments, encouraging feedback and seeking support. This year’s theme will be Charity Engagement. A Calling Notice has been distributed. Please let me know if you have not seen the Calling Notice and would like to attend the Forum.
AGAI 100. The revised draft of this AGAI has now been updated and this will be published in due course. Charities detailed within AGAI are Cobseo registered only.
Flexible Working. Flexible Working (FW) initiatives have been announced. They ‘Go-Live’ on 19 Oct 15 and address the army’s changing manpower requirements while recognising the views of Service Personnel (SP), and their families. FW forms an important part of The Chief of the General Staff’s ‘Maximising Talent’ agenda. FW can help to improve health and well-being, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and it can enhance employee engagement and loyalty. By developing these initiatives, the army will support the lifestyle choices that SP want to make, improving recruitment and retention.
The FW initiatives include a full review of all existing arrangements for Service personnel to work flexibly, including variable start and finish times, compressed hours, home working, and provisions to enable more flexibility in paid and unpaid leave. They incorporate additional leave categories to enable the transfer of leave between service couples, and the bringing forward of leave from future leave year allocations. There are also changes to the provisions for Career Breaks, and a new leave category called Enhanced Leave.
Cobseo Weekly Email. May I recommend this is added to the agenda on 14 Oct to discuss further. PS4 would prefer monthly but this can be discussed further.
Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here
