MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee

Chairman and Member appointments

Information pack for applicants

This information pack is available electronically or in Braille or large print or tape from:

Appointments Clerk

VA & PC Focal Point

Rm 6406

Service Personnel and Veterans Agency

Tomlinson House

Norcross

FY5 3WP

Tel: 01253 333834

Email: [email address]

CONTENTS:

ABOUT THE POST PAGE

Background of Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committees (VA&PC) 3

Role of Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committees 4

Qualities required by Chairpersons 5

Duties and Role - Chairpersons 6

Qualities required by members 7

Duties and Role of members 8

Remuneration, appointment and Tenure 9

APPLYING FOR A POST

How we will handle your application 10

Guidance on completion of the application form and monitoring form 11

Dealing with your concerns 13

List of VA&PC areas 14

Annex A Interview Access Scheme 15

Other Enclosures

Application Form

Monitoring Form

Specific requirements for post, if any

OCPA Complaints leaflet

Public Appointments impact on benefits for disabled people leaflet

ABOUT THE POST

BACKGROUND OF VETERANS ADVISORY & PENSIONS COMMITTEE (VA&PC)

Background

The Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees are a new regional network that will help veterans and their families to access vital welfare support.

The pilot scheme will see 13 new regional groups - or `Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committees' - across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They will ensure that the best possible service is provided locally.

In announcing the new committees Kevan Jones, MoD Minister for Veterans said:

“Our new committees will ensure that the needs of veterans are championed at every level, from central Government to the very heart of the local community.”

The new committees will build on the role of existing War Pension Committees and will be made up of volunteers from a cross-section of the local community with a genuine interest in furthering the support available to Veterans and their families, including health, social care, legal professionals and veterans groups. The new committees will advocate for Veterans in support of the Service Personnel Command Paper, which sets out the nation's commitment to cross-Government support to Veterans, and the Welfare Pathway, an initiative to improve access to help, advice and benefits for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families.

The new committees will initially be piloted for a 12 month period with a review point at 6 months.

Their forerunner, the War Pensions Committees (WPCs) will continue to work in parallel to provide continuity for the first 6 month until the new committees are fully operational. The War Pensions Committees were first established in 1921, in the wake of World War I, to assist the Ministry of Pensions. Members undertook the adjudication and administration of grants to disabled ex-servicemen, the organisation of care for Widows and neglected children, and the monitoring of Ministry of Pensions administration of the War Disablement Pensions scheme. They also sat as a Complaints Panel for any person who was aggrieved by a War Pensions decision or alleged delay. This work continues today.

There will be thirteen regional Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committees in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, each having between 12 and 20 members.

ABOUT THE POST

ROLE OF THE VETERANS ADVISORY & PENSIONS COMMITTEES

The role of the new Committees is to;

Raise awareness

1) Raise awareness especially at local level of

Welfare Pathway

Advising and representing

With reference to Pensions VA&PC are only concerned with War Pensions.

Consultation

1) Based on their involvement in the wider process and their contact with

individuals in the local areas, act as a conduit for local consultation by Ministers,

the Ministry of Defence and the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency

(SPVA) on issues affecting recipients of pension from the War Pensions

Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

ABOUT THE POST

QUALITIES REQUIRED - CHAIRPERSON

To help you decide if you have the qualities needed to be Chairperson of a Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee, we have listed below the qualities that a suitable candidate would be expected to show.

Your application form should clearly demonstrate these qualities

Delivering results

You must:

Competencies

Your ability to meet these criteria will be used as the basis for deciding whether you have the skills required to fulfil this important role.

Time Commitment

The committee meets in full at least twice each year to a maximum of four times a year, and members are expected to take tasks and correspondence out of committee as required. In addition there are two Chairman's Conferences held each year, the nature of which are driven by the business of the committee.

ABOUT THE POST

DUTIES AND ROLE - CHAIRPERSON

The VP&AC Chairperson will play a central role in the recruitment of members and in promoting the interests and welfare of Veterans and their families. The committee meet between 2 and 4 times per year and members are expected to be involved in a wide ranging agenda of issues relating to the functions of the committee set out below. Suitable candidates may come from a wide range of backgrounds. Whilst a knowledge of service life would be useful, what is most important is that the applicant should have a real commitment to supporting veterans and their dependants.

Specific requirements of the Chairpersons position are to:

individuals in the local areas, act as a conduit for local consultation by Ministers, the Ministry of Defence and the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency(SPVA) on issues affecting recipients of pension from the War Pensions

Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

ABOUT THE POST

QUALITIES REQUIRED - MEMBERS

To help you decide if you have the qualities needed to be a member of a Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee, we have listed below the qualities that a suitable candidate would be expected to show.

Your application form should clearly demonstrate these qualities

Personal qualities

You must:

Delivering results

You must:

Competencies

Your ability to meet these criteria will be used as the basis for deciding whether you have the skills required to fulfil this important role.

Time Commitment

The committee meets in full between two and four times a year, and members are expected to take tasks and correspondence out of committee as required.

ABOUT THE POST

DUTIES AND ROLE - MEMBER

The VP&AC members will play a central role in promoting the interests and welfare of Veterans and their families. The committee meet between 2 and 4 times per year and members are expected to be involved in a wide ranging agenda of issues relating to the functions of the committee set out below. Suitable candidates may come from a wide range of backgrounds. Whilst a knowledge of service life would be useful, what is most important is that the applicant should have a real commitment to supporting veterans and their dependants.

Specific requirements for the members position are to;

individuals in the local areas, act as a conduit for local consultation by Ministers, the Ministry of Defence and the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency(SPVA) on issues affecting recipients of pension from the War Pensions

Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

ABOUT THE POST

Remuneration

Chairmen and members may apply to more than one committee but there should be a regional connection i.e. living or working within the committee area.

All Committee posts are voluntary with reimbursement of travelling expenses and loss of earnings allowance payable if appropriate.

The current rates are:

Mileage: 40p per mile (Fully Comprehensive Insurance with business clause)

23p per mile (other insurance types with business clause)

Subsistence: Re-imbursement of actual expenditure.

Loss of earnings allowance: Payable to a maximum of 15 days per financial year. £25.77 up to 4 hours absence

£51.54 over 4 hours absence

Appointment and Tenure of Office

The Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees will initially be piloted for 6 months therefore;

You should note particularly the requirement to declare any conflict of interest that arises in the course of committee business and the need to declare any relevant business interests. APPLYING FOR A POST

HOW WE WILL HANDLE YOUR APPLICATION

All appointments are made in accordance with the procedures for making formal nominations laid down by the Commissioner for Public Appointments (www.publicappointmentscommissioner.org) who monitors appointments to all public bodies. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will advise you of the likely timetable at each stage.

The advertisement or this application pack will give you details of the organisation and specific vacancies for which you can apply.

The publicity for these appointments has been published on the public appointments website and has been targeted to attract as diverse a field of suitably qualified individuals as possible.

APPLYING FOR A POST

GUIDANCE ON THE COMPLETION OF THE APPLICATION FORM

FORM 1: APPLICATION FORM

Part A & B: Your personal details & number of previous MoD posts held.

As these are public appointments, basic information about those appointments is made public in a variety of official publications including press releases and the Cabinet Office's database of public appointments on the internet. This information includes:

Full name

Date of birth/gender

Number of Public appointments held

Part C: Future Contact

From time to time we seek high quality candidates with specific skills and experience for particular posts.

Should you be unsuccessful in this application and we consider that your skills and experience are such that you would be a suitable candidate for one of these posts, we would like to be able to send you details.

If you are content for your details to be kept for this purpose, please tick the “Yes” box at part C. We will notify you that we are keeping this information, which will not be used for any other purpose.

Part D: References

Your referees will not be approached unless you are invited for interview.

Part E: Skills and attributes

Please make sure that you have read the qualities required for the post. Your answers to the questions in this section will help the selection panel to judge whether you have the competencies we are looking for and the abilities needed to deliver results. In drawing from your experience to answer the questions you should include evidence that you have as many of the qualities as possible.

Please enclose a brief, relevant CV, setting out your career history, which lists in date order your main areas of employment or activity and any relevant voluntary or community activity, caring responsibilities or other public appointments, as well as your qualifications, which may be academic, professional, vocational or from experience.

Part F: Conflict of Interest

Please give details of any business or other interests or any personal connections which, if you are appointed, could be misconstrued or cause embarrassment to the public body or SPVA. These could include financial interests or share ownership, active connections with a field of expertise in which the body works, membership of societies, activities associations or employment of a partner or friend in the particular field in which the public body operates.

Part G: Declaration:

It is important that you sign and date the form.

FORM 2: MONITORING INFORMATION

Parts A, B, C and D: Equal opportunities

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are particularly anxious to ensure proper representation on committees of women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people (please see Annex A for further information). All appointments are based on merit and the principles of independent assessment, openness and transparency of process.

Part E: Political Activity

Whether you are politically active in any way will not be a factor in the consideration of your application. Information on political activity is requested as required by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and is used for monitoring purposes only. It is not made available to short-listing or interview panels or to the board of the Commission. However, we appreciate that such activities may have given you relevant skills, including experience gained from committee work, collective decision making, resolving conflict and public speaking. If you have such experience and you consider it relevant to your application you should include it as part of your CV.

Part F: Publication of monitoring information

Information is collected for monitoring purposes about ethnic origin, disability and political activity to ensure that the appointment process is fair and open. The Ministry of Defence may ask the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to provide statistical information on ethnic origin and disability in response to Parliamentary Questions and other public enquiries. However, in line with Government policy, and in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act, information about the ethnic origin and disability of individuals will only be made publicly available with the consent of the person involved. The application form asks individuals whether they are happy for this information to be made publicly available.

Part G: Declaration

It is important that you sign and date the form

APPLYING FOR A POST

DEALING WITH YOUR CONCERNS

In the first instance

For queries about your application, please telephone the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee Focal Point on 01253 333834 or send an e-mail to:

[email address]

If you are not completely satisfied

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy. If you feel that you have any complaints about the way your application has been handled, we would like to hear from you.

Please contact:

Head of Veterans Services

Rm 6406

Tomlinson House

Service Personnel and Veterans Agency

Norcross

FY5 3WP

Taking it further

The Commissioner for Public Appointments, regulates and monitors ministerial appointments to public bodies and appointments made to Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments has produced detailed guidance which the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and Veterans Advisory & Pensions Committee are required to follow. If you have reason to complain about the way your application for appointment was handled, you should first direct your concerns to the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency Head of Veterans Services at the above address.

If, after receiving a comprehensive response you are still concerned, you can write to the Commissioner for Public Appointments at the address below:

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)

35 Great Smith Street

London

SW1P 3BQ

LIST OF VETERANS ADVISORY & PENSIONS COMMITTEES AREAS

Annex A

INTERVIEW ACCESS SCHEME FOR DISABLED CANDIDATES

We are particularly keen to recruit disabled people who have the necessary skills. To encourage those applicants we operate a scheme under which disabled candidates, who have demonstrated the competencies required for the appointment, will be assured of an offer of an interview.

The Interview Access Scheme (IAS) works as follows:-

Interviews are competitive and the interview panel will recommend the best candidate to Minister, who will make the final decision.

Please Note:-

Where a candidate is unable to attend an interview on the set date then an alternative date will only be offered at the discretion of the panel.

When 30 or more applications are received, it is likely that your application will be “pre-assessed” before it is passed to the short listing panel for consideration. You should be aware that in this situation, your application might not be considered in full by all panel members.

If you are disabled and in receipt of benefits you need to be aware that under current regulations a paid public appointment may affect your entitlement. See the leaflet “Public Appointments; impact on benefits for disabled people” in the information pack.

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