Legal background Armed Forces Covenant
The AFA 2006 requires the Secretary of State to make an armed forces covenant report annually to Parliament (see section 343A of the AFA 2006). The report covers the effects of membership, or former membership, of the armed forces on service people in the fields of healthcare, education, housing, inquests and in such other fields as the Secretary of State decides. In preparing the report, the Secretary of State must have regard in particular to: (a) the unique obligations of, and sacrifices made by, the armed forces; (b) the principle that it is desirable to remove disadvantages arising for service people from membership, or former membership, of the armed forces; and (c) the principle that special provision for service people may be justified by the effects on such people of membership, or former membership, of the armed forces (see section 343A(3)). Section 343B defines various terms in section 343A, including what is meant by "service people" and "relevant family member".