Armed Forces Covenant

An Enduring Covenant Between The People of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government and All those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown And their Families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant. 

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Covenant

1.1 We Turnbull Infrastructure & Utilities Ltd will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:

• no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
• In some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.

Section 2: Demonstrating our Commitment

2.1 We recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families
bring to our business and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the
Armed Forces Covenant, by:

• Promoting the Armed Forces:
  • Promoting our work, activities and events through our own digital and social media channels as well as working with the press
  • Publishing our Covenant pledges on a dedicated Covenant section/page on our website
  • Promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces friendly organisation, to our staff, contractors, customers, suppliers and wider public

• Veterans:
  • Working with and advertising vacancies through Career Transition Partnership {CTP}, to ensure employment opportunities are made available to veterans.
  • Guaranteeing interviews with veterans who meet the essential criteria in the job specification.
  • Recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process.

• Service Spouses & Partners:
  • Guaranteeing interviews with military spouses/partners who meet the essential criteria in the job specifications.
  • Partnering with and advertising vacancies on Forces Families Jobs, to ensure employment opportunities are made available to Service Spouses & Partners.
  • Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for services spouses and partners before, during and after a partner's deployment.

• Reserves:
  • Supporting our employees who are already members of the Reserve Force.
  • Granting 2 weeks additional paid leave to our Reservist employees to support annual training and courses.
  • Guaranteeing interviews with Reservists who meet the essential criteria in the job specifications.

• Cadet Force Adult Volunteers:
  • Supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations.
  • Granting 2 weeks additional paid leave to our Cadet Force Adult Volunteer employees to attend annual training and courses.
  • Actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations.
  • Recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce.
  • Registered with ACCT UK to partner with Cadet Units to offer support

• National Events:
  • Supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities

• Armed Forces Charities:
  • Supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist

• Commercial Support:
  • Offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces community and advertising this through the Defence Discount Services

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.