Lancashire County Council has retained its Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, the highest level of recognition from the Ministry of Defence for employers that champion veterans, reservists and military families.
The award was presented at Full Council on 12 March 2026, where Armed Forces Champion Cllr Gary Kniveton received a framed certificate now on display in the Leader’s office at County Hall. A brass band accompanied the occasion, playing the national anthem — a tradition introduced after Reform UK’s recently passed Civic Pride motion, which requires God Save the King to be played before every Full Council meeting.
Watch: Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award presentation with the national anthem at Full Council
Eleven of the council’s councillors are either veterans or reservists. At the meeting, Cllr Kniveton asked them to stand and be acknowledged for their service.
The Armed Forces Champion
Cllr Gary Kniveton is an ex-Royal Marine who founded the Bay Veterans Association in Morecambe in 2023. Within a year it became the North West’s largest and most proactive veterans support group, welcoming around 600 people through its doors each month. When he was elected to the county council, he stepped down from the Association to take on the role of Armed Forces Champion at Lancashire County Council.
Chairman Cllr Alf Clempson, who served 24 years in the Scots Guards and is the former Armed Forces Champion at LCC, also attended the presentation. Senior Officer Kieran Curran, who has managed the Covenant Award Scheme at Lancashire County Council since it was introduced in 2013, was recognised for his longstanding work on the programme.
Lancashire’s Veteran Community
Census 2021 data shows 53,567 people who previously served in the UK armed forces now live in Lancashire, making up 4.3% of the population aged 16 and over. Over a third of them, some 16,841 people, are concentrated in Lancaster, Wyre and Blackpool. The Veterans UK site at Norcross in Thornton Cleveleys is one of the county’s largest employers supporting ex-service personnel.
| Area | Veterans |
|---|---|
| Lancaster, Wyre, Blackpool | 16,841 |
| Rest of Lancashire | 36,726 |
| Total | 53,567 |
In the year to March 2023, 9,424 individuals in Lancashire received either a pension or compensation under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, the War Pension Scheme or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Over a third of those were in Wyre, Blackpool and Fylde alone.
What the Gold Award Means
The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme has three tiers: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Gold is the highest, reserved for organisations that go beyond the legal requirements to support the armed forces community across recruitment, workplace policies and advocacy.
Lancashire County Council first signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2013 and achieved Gold status in 2020. Holding the award means the council pledges to support employees from the military community and actively advocates for veterans and their families across public services.
Since 2022, local authorities have been under a legal duty to have “due regard” to the Covenant when making decisions on housing, education and healthcare. Lancashire goes further than the legal minimum through the Lancashire Armed Forces Covenant Hub.
The Lancashire Armed Forces Covenant Hub
The Hub has been based at the University of Central Lancashire since July 2018. It is a partnership between the county council, Army Headquarters North West, the NHS (Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust) and UCLan, funded by Lancashire County Council.
It works across six themes: education, employment, health, housing, wellbeing and welfare support. One of its flagship programmes recruits ex-forces personnel as mentors in Lancashire secondary schools. Recruitment for the mentoring programme opens each April.
The Hub coordinates services across all 15 Lancashire councils, connecting veterans and their families with the right support.
Contact
Anyone from the armed forces community in Lancashire who needs support can contact the Hub through the Lancashire County Council website, or reach the Armed Forces Champion directly at gary.kniveton@lancashire.gov.uk.