Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Zana Rees, Victoria Williams, Danny De La Mare, Wayne Driscoll, Captain Chris Evans and Taha Idris.

In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Panel held on 17 December 2014.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 17 December 2014, be agreed as a correct record.

Steve Jones, Unit Warrant Officer, HMS Cambria will be attending.

Steve Jones, Unit Warrant Officer, HMS Cambria, outlined his role in the reserves and indicated that his main aim was to try and increase numbers. He stated that this had been advertised in job centre plus, He stated that the age limit was currently 40 for the Royal Navy Reserves and 50 for the RAF. He indicated that he was looking to train and recruit teams in Swansea and Cardiff and this had been promote in Castle Gardens, Armed Forces Day, etc. Members of the Panel praised the television marketing campaign which had been very successful.  

Panel Member gave a verbal update regarding their various organisations.

Sue Richards, CRUSE gave an account of a training event that had taken place which was attended by 16 . It was stated that the format of this training event had been amended and this received a very positive feedback. It was agreed that the DVD shown at the training event be shown at the next meeting of this Panel.

Councillor T Colburn, Mumbles and South Gower Royal British Legion informed the Panel that a concert would be held by June to celebrate the end of the second world war and commemorate the start of the first world war. It was hoped that a representative of the Gurkhas be present as this event would also celebrate the fact that in 2015 the Gurkhas had served 200 years in the British Army. He stated that a new plaque would also be updated at All Saints  Church as the list of those men who had lost their lives had been updated. He indicated that there were new Regulations in respect of funding which the British Legion were now directly in control of.

Chris Howells, Mid and West Wales Fire Authority indicated that there were currently 7 solder. S Shaw reported the tragic loss of life of a young veteran who had committed suicide.

Steve Stokoe, Royal Navy Reserves expressed thanks for the grant for the covenant in the work that they do which involved listening and supporting families and partners of veterans. Leaflets were distributed to Panel Members regarding the service they provide. The sound track of a publicity video had now been completed and it was proposed to organise a launch day for this. Fund raising was taking place to organise a team building event sailing around Wales. He reported on the uncertainty of funding after January 2016.

It was requested that an Update on Change Funding be provided at the next meeting.

Clive Thomson, Wales Probation provided an update regarding the bid on the 72 ft Challenger Yacht which commences on 10 May in Cardiff. Details of this were requested.

John Tossoll HMO Swansea informed the Panel that there were currently 32 service inmates and this figure had risen and was higher that other Prisons in Cardiff. He stated that this Authority had been awarded a silver medal in respect of the Defence Employer Recognition Award. The need to all work together as part of the covenant was recognised. Sue Richards volunteered to hold an group session for veterans in the prison. 

Royal British Legion top five Policy Changes

The Legion’s top five policy changes were circulated and discussed by the Group. It was stated that the first of these had already be done and the change stated in the third policy was in place. Further details regarding the status of the Policies two and five would be investigated. The Chair stated that the forth Policy change had been raised in a meeting. The Panel were assured that the appropriate departments would be made aware of these changes to incorporate into future Policies. It was stated that the Covenant would support these and it was requested that feedback be submitted back to the Panel regarding the implementation of these policies.

Armed Forces Community Covenant Event      

It was stated that the Covenant Event scheduled for 21 January 2015 had been postponed.

Officer Covenant Meeting

S Martin indicated that another officer covenant meeting would be held North Wales in May. He stated that at this meeting he would have further details in respect of other sources of funding.

The meeting ended 2.45 p.m.