Please help.... Squaddies On the Streets after Serving Country!!!

[spike7451]

Originally Posted by Hitback

My meeting with Nick Harvey MP, went well and the points I covered are below.

1. The JSHAO requires to cover a greater area. This can be done by attaching a team to the CDT group. They visit all military location in a year.

2. The LSAP is not a tax free loan at all, only the first 5k is the rest is paid back with interest.

3. MoD Nomination Scheme is over stretched and is unable to manage with the large numbers requiring housing. All you have to do is look at their waiting lists.

4. The KWS (Key Worker Scheme) is the governments shallow view on this very important issue. There are many service personnel that would love to get onto the Housing Ladder but are unable to get the deposit or afford the repayments. This scheme was also offered to civil servants at five times the number of service personnel permitted, WHY?

There will be some tabled questions on this area very soon, also how many service personnel have used the KWS in relation to civil servants!!!

5. The Homelessness Legislation Amendment of (2002) Vulnerable peoples act is a white wash. The wording is key to its failure or should I say spin. Specific Consideration. This word means to look at but not having to act upon its findings.

6. In a letter dated 9th May 2006. The Government believed only a small amount of service leavers find it hard to get housing. I believe the Government requires to open its eyes and its ears, and listen and look twice as hard as it talks. Only 9% of other ranks and 18% of Officers with in the Army own their own property. In a Continuous Attitude Survey 37% of responding Officers and 48% other ranks were either fairly or very dissatisfied with their prospects for buying or even renting a house.

7. The area of single service leavers hasn't been touched upon by any of the Political Parties. I believe if RSL's allowed group tenancies controlled by Forces Charities this would go a long way in helping single soldiers back into civilian life. I will be putting together a detailed plan of how this would work. If you are interested then please contact me.

Annington Homes Plc was covered in detail and some questions will be asked, I'm sure of that.

1. The profit shared agreement. 1996 - 2004 the Chancellor made 100 million whilst service personnel only got 1% for every full 10 years served!
a. Why is the profit not being used to off set a greater discount for service leavers?
b. Why are service tenants not being given first refusal of properties they once rented?
c Why is the MoD repairing property that is to be handed back to Annington Homes. Whilst service families and single personnel live in run down holes. Annington have stated that they invest on average 15k per property before placing them on the market. So what bloody state are these house's in and why should service personnel have to live in them.

2. What happened to the 1.6bn the properties were sold for?

3. The selling on of military locations has nothing to do with the restructure of the Brigades etc. It all has to do with the Profit Shared Agreement (PSA) and the governments contract to regenerate labour seats around the country. The (PSA) ends in less than 5 years time. After this date the government will receive nothing from Annington Homes Plc. These are my views on why we are getting super garrisons.


Regards

Hitback

Evening Colour,
Sorry I havent kept on top of things of late,Some family illnesses & my 20 month old bolluxed new laptom means I'm now using a win2000 so slow I can cook din-dins between letters!
Anyway,I'm off with TA tommorow for 2 week jolly but I'm trying to arrange a meeting with Slyvia Hermon when I get back.I believe She & the Ulster Unionists care more about us servicemen than the government.
See you in 2 weeks.
Regards,
Spike

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Slightly OT.I have received from the Royal British Legion thanks for supporting the campaign and an invitation to participate in a new campaign called Broken Covenant.

Personally I have been horrified not only by some of the stories that have been told to me and that I have read about the present system of medical treatment for returning servicemen from Iraq and Afghanistan but by the fact that one perfectly good MOD hospital Haslar has been closed here on the South Coast and that servicemen are finding themselves isolated in NHS Hospitals.
It is a fact that war injured and mentally scarred servicemen get better quicker if they are in the company of other servicemen who have also undergone similar experiences.NHS Staff may not be able to offer the same insights and attention that MOD medical staff can.Also governments have repeatedly been silent about Gulf War syndrome and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among returning and retired MOD staff.

So if any of you have received this email I hope you will agree to offer to join the campaign.

http://www.brokencovenant.org.uk/

I got the email & have added my signature ....

I was born in a 'military hospital', and had treatment/operations in others, due to my fathers service in the forces, it isn't just the servicemen affected by this, it is their families, too.

- Apologies if that is too far off topic, but the general principle of not valuing the people who put their lives on the line, so we can maintain our smug society, applies, imo

[Hitback]

Spike, great to see you back on site. Sorry to hear about the family illnesses, I hope all is well now.

The impact draw down is having on our RIR is shocking. All the ex-services accommodation in NI belongs to DHE and should be offered to forces personnel before civilians (thats under the old DCI's system). I believe this should be followed up when you meet Slyvia Hermon.

Regards

Hitback

[spike7451]

Originally Posted by Hitback

Spike, great to see you back on site. Sorry to hear about the family illnesses, I hope all is well now.

The impact draw down is having on our RIR is shocking. All the ex-services accommodation in NI belongs to DHE and should be offered to forces personnel before civilians (thats under the old DCI's system). I believe this should be followed up when you meet Slyvia Hermon.

Regards

Hitback

Totally agree & to add complication, the Ex-RIR soldiers cannot settle anywhere they like,The is still the security implication as well which rules out settling in around 2/3rds of the province!And it's not just the RIR,te Ex RUC/PSNI reserves are facing the same situation.
The may be peace here but the threat still exists,despite what bLair said.
What was it ol'Gerry Adams said,
"They have'nt gone away you know"

[Hitback]

The following is the DCLG Press Release sent to all military location. I find it strange how Mr Twigg states he wanted this legislation to be changed for some time. However, In the letter that have been placed on here over the past year, he has stated that the MoD has a lot of option open to forces personnel when looking for housing!!


Regards

hitback

[Hitback]

The link below must be the information thats come out of the recent debate. Lets just hope they put more cash into the project.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../nhomes116.xml

Regards

Hitback

[TheDaddy]

Looks like your campaign was sucessful then

to everyone who signed the petition here

[Escapee]

I admit I have a very mixed view on this subject, whilst not putting down what they do in fighting for their country I believe the underlying problem is often caused by their own actions. I work with a lot of ex armed forces from all three services, the navy and airforce tend to differ to those serving in the army. The ex navy people who I work with certainly got their priorities right by buying a house when they were young not long after joining the navy and the airforce guys seem to be in a similar situation. The majority of ex squaddies I work with by their own admission bought flash cars and had a great time pi**ing what was left against the wall.

So am I right in assuming this is mainly affecting ex army persons and not the other forces as much?

Originally Posted by Escapee

I admit I have a very mixed view on this subject, whilst not putting down what they do in fighting for their country I believe the underlying problem is often caused by their own actions. I work with a lot of ex armed forces from all three services, the navy and airforce tend to differ to those serving in the army. The ex navy people who I work with certainly got their priorities right by buying a house when they were young not long after joining the navy and the airforce guys seem to be in a similar situation. The majority of ex squaddies I work with by their own admission bought flash cars and had a great time pi**ing what was left against the wall.

So am I right in assuming this is mainly affecting ex army persons and not the other forces as much?

The army and it's dependents tend to live together in one area and when they move from base to base they go as a group plus dependents .

In the Navy individuals move from ship to ship and their dependents may move with them to the MOD housing nearest their ship's home dockyard.Most of us (navy wives) tend to get fed up with moving around because we don't move as a group as happens with the army(I'm an army brat by the way) where the wives all know and support each other so navy wives tend to be rather more inclined to stay in one place.

As a working professional I decided I wasn't going to mess around with my career by constantly moving every 18 months so we bought a house on the south coast.As my husband ended up working on minesweepers he ended up mainly in Scotland while I stayed on the south coast.

Therefore those in the army tend as they are moving fairly often not to bother buying a house because it becomes tedious to be putting a house on the market so often especially as in the past they might find them selves living in Germany,Malta etc.As the British Empire dwindles though it maybe they would consider buying rather than renting MOD accommodation i.f it weren't so damned expensive to be a first time buyer

[sollp]

Originally Posted by Escapee

I admit I have a very mixed view on this subject, whilst not putting down what they do in fighting for their country I believe the underlying problem is often caused by their own actions. I work with a lot of ex armed forces from all three services, the navy and airforce tend to differ to those serving in the army. The ex navy people who I work with certainly got their priorities right by buying a house when they were young not long after joining the navy and the airforce guys seem to be in a similar situation. The majority of ex squaddies I work with by their own admission bought flash cars and had a great time pi**ing what was left against the wall.

So am I right in assuming this is mainly affecting ex army persons and not the other forces as much?

Being Ex infantry i totally agree with what you say, rightly or wrongly when in the Army,(i can only refer to the infantry maybe Artillery Regiments as well) you literally lived for the moment so things like housing,saving money ect were way down the list. I personally did manage to save each month and always was pi**ng it up the wall with the rest. I know as well that alot of the guys after spending a good few years in the services find it hard as you really don't have to worry about day-day things like bills-mortgages so when alot of people leave suddenly the normal life and all that goes with it can be to much to handle.

[Escapee]

Originally Posted by sollp

Being Ex infantry i totally agree with what you say, rightly or wrongly when in the Army,(i can only refer to the infantry maybe Artillery Regiments as well) you literally lived for the moment so things like housing,saving money ect were way down the list. I personally did manage to save each month and always was pi**ng it up the wall with the rest. I know as well that alot of the guys after spending a good few years in the services find it hard as you really don't have to worry about day-day things like bills-mortgages so when alot of people leave suddenly the normal life and all that goes with it can be to much to handle.

Thanks to yourself and Incognitas for the replies to my post, I must admit I thought I was most likely to get flamed for my post.

My reply to Incognitas when she says they dont buy houses because they move around a lot was 'well do they invest the money they are not using to buy a house'

Sollp your reply is spot on to what I hear from ex squaddies I work with, and the ones who I meet in my job who are still in the army. I mainly come into contact with warrant officers etc and a couple (certainly 2 I can think of) who are soon to be leaving, both of these live in army accomodation and are both WO1's. They both realise coming out is going to be a big shock to the system, and both admit that they wish they hadn't pi**ed quite as much of their money againt the wall.

Both however have enjoyed living in army accomodation on camps because they say there is no crime, and the kids tend to be well bahaved because the MP's keep an eye on them.

Originally Posted by Escapee

Thanks to yourself and Incognitas for the replies to my post, I must admit I thought I was most likely to get flamed for my post.

My reply to Incognitas when she says they dont buy houses because they move around a lot was 'well do they invest the money they are not using to buy a house'

Sollp your reply is spot on to what I hear from ex squaddies I work with, and the ones who I meet in my job who are still in the army. I mainly come into contact with warrant officers etc and a couple (certainly 2 I can think of) who are soon to be leaving, both of these live in army accomodation and are both WO1's. They both realise coming out is going to be a big shock to the system, and both admit that they wish they hadn't pi**ed quite as much of their money againt the wall.

Both however have enjoyed living in army accomodation on camps because they say there is no crime, and the kids tend to be well bahaved because the MP's keep an eye on them.

Why would you be flamed?It was a perfectly reasonable question.

I think the trouble is that in the army situation it's a lovely little safe and secure world with loads of support for the families.IF you move out of the community you do find yourself on your own..and in the present climate of dislike for the Iraq war that may be a scary thought for families.As for the investment..damn it must be really depressing being in a war zone or off on the country's business away from everyone..you end up spending money going out to 'forget' how lonely you are.Something that really affected my husband when his ship was away overseas or he was stuck in Faslane.

[Hitback]

The following link is on the BAFF site. It explains the Housing issue in detail and shows the support they have given to this issue. A big thank you for all their support on this campaign.

Regards

Hitback



Clause 270 - Armed forces: homelessness and allocation of housing

775. Clause 270 amends section 199 of the Housing Act 1996, which sets out the circumstances when a person has a local connection with the district of a local housing authority. Housing authorities may take account of whether a person has a local connection with their district when considering the person's priority for an allocation of housing under Part 6 of the 1996 Act or when making inquiries about whether the person is homeless and owed a duty for the purposes of Part 7 of the 1996 Act. The effect of the amendment is that a person in the armed forces will now be able to establish a local connection with a district through residence of choice or employment there, in the same way as a civilian.

http://www.baff.org.uk/baff-social-housing-campaign.htm

Originally Posted by Hitback

The following link is on the BAFF site. It explains the Housing issue in detail and shows the support they have given to this issue. A big thank you for all their support on this campaign.

Regards

Hitback



Clause 270 - Armed forces: homelessness and allocation of housing

775. Clause 270 amends section 199 of the Housing Act 1996, which sets out the circumstances when a person has a local connection with the district of a local housing authority. Housing authorities may take account of whether a person has a local connection with their district when considering the person's priority for an allocation of housing under Part 6 of the 1996 Act or when making inquiries about whether the person is homeless and owed a duty for the purposes of Part 7 of the 1996 Act. The effect of the amendment is that a person in the armed forces will now be able to establish a local connection with a district through residence of choice or employment there, in the same way as a civilian.

http://www.baff.org.uk/baff-social-housing-campaign.htm

Thank you.Finally some justice.

[Hitback]

Incognitas and to all members of this site thank you for all your support.

Help from this site on the next campaign would be great. It's all about the unfit for purpose Medical Discharge and War pensions saga. I have already started this campaign on other sites but would appreciate the support of the members on here as well.

If you like to know more about this issue then I will start a fresh campaign thread on here. Moderators please advise.


Regards

Hitback