Agenda item

Notice of Motion given by Councillor Clive Skelton

That this Council:-

(a)       recognises the contribution that our serving armed forces and veterans make to our communities;

(b)       notes that its commitment to the Armed Forces Community Covenant ensures the needs of those residents of Sheffield who serve or have served the country are recognised and supported at a local level;

(c)        congratulates everybody involved in delivering many successful activities in Sheffield, as demonstrated by the inclusion of eleven Sheffield examples in the Royal British Legion’s  Best Practice Guide to Community Covenants (September 2013);

(d)       further notes that many other residents have, through a range of professions, served the country in equally significant measure in national security and defence – including those who participated in the testing of Britain’s nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s;

(e)       welcomes that, following a Ministry of Defence commissioned Health Needs Analysis in 2011 of British nuclear test veterans, the NHS has introduced a number of practical measures to support them;

(f)        believes that other parts of the public and voluntary sector should seek to introduce similar measures to support nuclear test veterans – and that the Council should lead this at a local level by extending the provisions of the Armed Forces Community Covenant to those veterans who live in Sheffield;

(g)       urges the Government to support the campaign of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans’ Association by:

(i)         officially recognising the unique service of these veterans and acknowledge the nation’s continuing debt to them; and

(ii)        supporting the intention to establish a Benevolent Fund of £25million to provide assistance for those veterans and their descendants in need; and

(h)       agrees to ask all the Sheffield MPs to back this campaign and join the Council in urging the Government to support the requests outlined in paragraph (g) above.

Minutes:

 

British Nuclear Tests Veterans

 

 

 

RESOLVED: On the Motion of Councillor Clive Skelton, seconded by Councillor Julie Dore, that this Council:-

 

 

 

(a)       recognises the contribution that our serving armed forces and veterans make to our communities;

(b)       notes that its commitment to the Armed Forces Community Covenant ensures the needs of those residents of Sheffield who serve or have served the country are recognised and supported at a local level;

(c)        congratulates everybody involved in delivering many successful activities in Sheffield, as demonstrated by the inclusion of eleven Sheffield examples in the Royal British Legion’s  Best Practice Guide to Community Covenants (September 2013);

(d)       further notes that many other residents have, through a range of professions, served the country in equally significant measure in national security and defence – including those who participated in the testing of Britain’s nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s;

(e)       welcomes that, following a Ministry of Defence commissioned Health Needs Analysis in 2011 of British nuclear test veterans, the NHS has introduced a number of practical measures to support them;

(f)        believes that other parts of the public and voluntary sector should seek to introduce similar measures to support nuclear test veterans – and that the Council should lead this at a local level by extending the provisions of the Armed Forces Community Covenant to those veterans who live in Sheffield;

(g)       urges the Government to support the campaign of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans’ Association by:

(i)         officially recognising the unique service of these veterans and acknowledge the nation’s continuing debt to them; and

(ii)        supporting the intention to establish a Benevolent Fund of £25million to provide assistance for those veterans and their descendants in need; and

(h)       agrees to ask all the Sheffield MPs to back this campaign and join the Council in urging the Government to support the requests outlined in paragraph (g) above.