Manchester City Council has met all the requirements of the Royal British Legion's (RBL) Credit their Service campaign removing the final hurdle for veterans and service personnel needing to apply for means tested benefits in the city.
Working with RBL, the council has completed the process and has agreed to end the use of treating military compensation as income by welfare benefit means tests which results in many veterans and their families in the armed forces community in the city missing out on thousands of pounds a year.
Councillor Tommy Judge, lead member for the Armed Forces at Manchester City Council and himself a former member of the Armed Forces, having previously served in the British Army Royal Armoured Cops, serving for six years with the 4th Royal Tank Regiment said: "We're grateful to the Royal British Legion for highlighting this injustice and were happy to work with them to remove this final barrier which affects the income of many of our brave Armed Forces personnel.
"Manchester is a city which is proud of its support for the Armed Forces and treating them equitably and fairly like the rest of the civilian population is yet another way to show our gratitude for their service and dedication to all of us. "
Currently many councils continue to treat Armed Forces compensation as income in means tested benefits and the Royal British Legion has been campaigning with their Credit their Service campaign to lobby councils to take action to remove this injustice.
Congratulating Manchester City Council for responding positively to the Credit their Service campaign, Hannah Pearce, Director of Campaigns, Policy and Research at Royal British Legion said: “We want to thank Manchester City Council for working with us and doing the right thing by veterans and the whole Armed Forces community.
"All councils in Great Britain have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, and this is a really good example of the tangible difference councils can make to some of the poorest veterans in their community.”
The Royal British Legion continues to work with every local authority and central government until all military compensation is fully disregarded as income in means tested benefits.
The means tested benefits include Housing Benefit, Council Tax support, Discretionary Housing Payments and Disabled Facilities Grants.