Our support for the Armed Forces

The Armed Forces Covenant is based on the premise that those who serve or have served, and their families deserve respect, support and fair treatment.

The Armed Forces Covenant includes these key commitments:

• We will offer up to 1% of our 2,000 new Council houses to those leaving the armed forces, and adapt up to a further 0.5% for those injured in service.
• We will support the employment of veterans and work with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service leavers.
• We will support the employment of Service spouses and partners, and provide advice services to support cadet forces to prepare for future employment.
• We will support our employees who are members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible.
• We will offer support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools and we will engage with local schools and communities to promote the role and benefits of cadet forces and Reserve Armed Forces.
• We will work with other organisations across the city to promote sporting opportunities for the armed forces.
• We will arrange for colleagues from SAAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, to use a council office one day a week to improve access to support for veterans.
• We will ensure that Armed Forces Personnel are not disadvantaged when it comes to gaining a place at a school for their children.
• We will take part in Armed Forces Day.

We are setting up a working group to ensure we meet these commitments. We will update this page with more information about the working group when it is available.

The Disabled Person’s Housing Service is a local charity offering housing advice, information and advocacy to disabled people, their families and carers.

Their Veterans Voice service aims to support disabled veterans of the armed forces, Police, Fire and Rescue Service and Merchant Navy source and secure suitable accommodation.  Their dedicated service can assist veterans and their families access suitable housing and other support services.

Find out more about the Disabled Person’s Housing Service.

We value all our employees and we understand that those from forces backgrounds or with forces connections may need additional provisions and support. We support our workforce in many ways such as: 

Employing Reservists Guidance for Managers and Employees

We have bespoke guidance specifically for reservists and their managers.  This guidance supports managers and employees in times of mobilisation and demobilisation.  
For reservists, we offer up to 15 days’ paid leave per year to attend relevant training and events. Please download and read our guidance to find out more. 

Armed Forces Network

We have an internal network for any of our employees who are veterans, reservists, cadet force adult volunteers, military spouses / partners, or who are otherwise connected to the armed forces. This network is employee-led, facilitated by a People and Organisation colleague, and aims to provide a place of support for employees and a space for communication, feedback and improvement work.  

Counselling Service

The Council provides a free, confidential, 24-hour counselling service, 365 days a year.  This service provides:

• A helpline for general advice and guidance;
• Psychological guidance and emotional support; 
• Individual counselling, either face to face or over the phone; and
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). 

This service is available to all employees and members of their immediate family, living at the home address and over 16 years of age.

As an employer, we want to support those leaving the forces and their families and friends gain employment. We advertise all of our jobs on My Job Scotland and post several of our roles on the CTP and Forces Families Jobs  websites. In addition to this, we also promote some of our vacancies on our social media channels.

We appreciate that transitioning to a new career is not easy so we want to provide as much advice and guidance as we can. Find out more about the help and support we provide for completing application forms and attending interviews. 

Contact

We also have a dedicated email address should you wish to ask any questions or get some advice about our recruitment and selection process or working for us.

This email address is armedforces@aberdeencity.gov.uk.