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Military Civilian Integration Partnership (Incorporating Wiltshire's Community Covenant Partnership)

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The Big Picture

The significant military presence in Wiltshire is changing. The development of Britain’s first ‘Super Garrison’ in the Salisbury Plain area, closure of RAF Lyneham and move of Defence Technical Training to the site, development of the Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centre at Tedworth House,  and a number of other planned military changes will have far reaching implications for local communities across the county for the foreseeable future.

Why do we need a Military Civilian Integration (MCI) Partnership?

Although there is an awareness of these changes taking place in the Defence community, Wiltshire Council working with Headquarters 43 (Wessex) Brigade and partners needed to assess what this means in terms of infrastructure, impact on the economy and delivery of services. Therefore, the Military Civilian Integration (MCI) Partnership was set up to shape and positively influence these changes, where possible.

The work of the MCI Partnership is based upon what is known as the Army’s Firm Base policy* and the Wiltshire Community Plan**. Also, the MCI Partnership acts as the Wiltshire Community Covenant Partnership for the purposes of the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

* The ‘Firm Base’ describes a secure environment, at home and overseas, that sustains the Army, enables training for, and deployment on, operations and ensures the consent and support of the public and host nations. Most of the activities required to support soldiers are linked – welfare and accommodation being good examples. The delivery of these services, therefore, requires working closely with the community (Source: MoD).

**People, places and promises, The Wiltshire Community Plan 2011-2026.

What is the aim of the partnership?


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The aim of the MCI Partnership is to optimise the economic and social benefits of the military presence in the county. In turn, such inegration will benefit Armed Forces personnel, their families, veterans and local communities.

The programme has 7 main objectives:

  • To identify and respond to the changing military ‘footprint’ in the county
  • To quantify and maximise the economic contribution of the military to the county.
  • To enable the realignment of service provision by the Council and its partners to meet the changing needs of the military, their families (known as dependants) and veterans.
  • To capatalise on opportunities for regeneration and building sustainable communities in areas with a military presence.
  • To ensure the county continues to remain an attractive location for our Armed Forces and long-term investment by the MoD
  • To encourage local communities to support Armed Forces through the Wiltshire Community Covenant
  • To assist Service leavers, and redundees in particular, in career transition and into employment in Wiltshire, helping soldiers back into society.

What’s happening and when?

Currently, there are 8 'live' projects in the MCI Partnership:

Salisbury Plain Super Garrison

The Salisbury Plain Super Garrison is the ‘core’ project within the programme and focuses on the plans for the future MoD use of the Salisbury Plain Training Area. Significant investment in infrastructure and increases in the numbers of soldiers and their families based in the county have taken place as a result of the Super Garrison.. Super Garrisons are also being developed in Aldershot, Catterick and Colchester. The project is on-going.

Lyneham Steering Group

The Defence Technical Training Change Programme (DTTCP) represents the MoD’s plan for delivering cost effective technical training for military personnel. As part of this, Lyneham is the chosen location for the proposed new Defence College of Technical Training.

The Lyneham Steering Group brings together community related groups affected by the transition to Defence Technical Training to provide a ‘voice’ for their particular concerns and resolve issues, where possible. It is anticipated that the Defence College of Technical Training will open in late 2015 with around 2,000 students and staff. The Lyneham site will be developed to meet the requirements of the college, and the existing technical training carried out at Bordon and Arborfield will be transferred to Lyneham.

The long-term goal is to move MoD Technical Training Units into Lyneham in a series of phased moves by 2019. Once these moves are complete there will be around 5,500 students and staff on site.The MCI Partnership and Lyneham Steering Group will continue to work with MoD to help ensure a smooth transition to the Defence College of Technical Training.

For more information see Lyneham Steering Group

Defence Technical Training Planning

The purpose of this project is to manage the MoD/Wiltshire Council Planning relationship for the phased move of Defence Technical Training to Lyneham from 2013. It is anticipated that MoD will submit a Planning Application seeking to establish the principle of the use of the site for Defence Technical Training in mid-2013. Training is likely to commence at Lyneham by 2015 and the aspiration is for Defence Technical Training to be fully established on the site by 2020.

For more information see the Defence Technical Training Change Programme

Wiltshire’s Armed Forces Community Covenant (including Veterans Charter and Community Covenant Grant Scheme)

Wiltshire launched its Armed Forces Community Covenant in August 2011. The Covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local Armed Forces Community. The aim of the Community Covenant is to encourage local communities to support the Service community in their area and nurture understanding and awareness amongst the public of issues affecting the Armed Forces Community. Wiltshire’s Armed Forces Community Covenant cements the relationship between the Council, the Armed Forces, and other service providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors.  

Also, Wiltshire launched its Armed Forces Veterans Charter and Action Plan in December 2011. The charter confirms support from the broader community and the wide range of organisations delivering services across all sectors to Service Veterans and their families. The Charter is evidenced by actions which are set out in a plan describing what organisations are doing in partnership to meet the needs of Service Veterans across a range of areas.

Community Covenant Grant Scheme

In August 2011 the MoD published information about funding of £30 million (over 4 years) for a new Community Covenant Grant Scheme. The scheme is intended to provide financial support to projects at the local level, which strengthen the ties or the mutual understanding between members of the Armed Forces Community and the wider community in which they live.

More information about the criteria and an application form is available at the MoD website. Deadlines for the grant scheme are set by the MoD.  However all projects must be endorsed by the local Community Covenant Partnership (in Wiltshire this is the MCI Partnership). Therefore all completed applications should be sent to VCS@wiltshire.gov.uk

Applications for the next round need to be with the Communities and Voluntary Sector Support (CVSS) unit at Wiltshire Council by 17 May 2013 using the email address above. This gives the unit a chance to gather further information, if necessary, before the application is submitted to the Wiltshire panel for endorsement. Bids which are not endorsed locally are unlikely to be approved by the MoD's Community Covenant panel. The MoD panel meeting takes place in March.

So far funding of £486,435 has been drawn down into Wiltshire and successful projects have included support for families, advocacy for veterans, arts projects and improved sports and community facilities.

Land Use Planning

The purpose of this project is to manage the MoD/Wiltshire Council Planning relationship concerning MoD sites across the county. The main objectives of this work are:

  • To facilitate the delivery of activities arising from military changes in Wiltshire with positive economic, environmental and social impacts whilst mitigating any negative consequences
  • To positively influence and inform military estate management and investment to achieve the maximum positive impact for Wiltshire
  • To ensure that investment into communities with a significant military presence enhances the sustainability of those communities.

The work includes planning for future housing and it will contribute towards the development of Wiltshire's Core Strategy. This project is on-going.

Joining Things Up Project - a co-ordinated approach to services for military families

The purpose of this project is to audit the provision of services to military families, including veterans, by statutory and voluntary agencies operating in Wiltshire. As part of this work Wiltshire Council is supporting the development of the Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centre (PRAC) at Tedworth House funded by Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion, including the Support Hub there. The project also links with the Council's Armed Forces Housing Forum and military related activites of NHS Wiltshire. This project is on-going.

Sustainable Communities

The purpose of this project is to build on earlier work to improve understanding of the communities in the Salisbury Plain area (specifically Bulford, Larkhill, Ludgershall, Tidworth and Warminster) in the context of the impacts of proposed changes to settlements as a result of the Salisbury Plain Super Garrison development. The initial study, funded by the Plain Action rural development programme, proposed options for different levels of development. This project is on-going and this work will be progressed as part of the Wiltshire Core Strategy.  

Research

The evidence base for the partnership was derived from 2 earlier research projects:

The most recent report PDFMilitary population in Wiltshire and the South West region 5.4mb Military population in Wiltshire and the South West region was published in November 2012. This report provides an update on the military presence in the area and outlines known developments such as Army 2020, the re-use of Lyneham and changes in the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

Who’s doing what?

The MCI Partnership Board provides strategic direction and guidance to the partnership and MCI Delivery Group.

The Board comprises: The Leader Wiltshire Council, Commander 43 (Wessex) Brigade, Cabinet Member for Economic Development & Strategic Planning, Corporate Director, Service Director Economy & Enterprise, Defence Infrastructure Organisation (formerly Defence Estates), Defence Technical Training, Homes & Communities Agency, Community First, and project leads as necessary. The Board meets every 8-10 weeks.

The MCI Delivery Group oversees progress on the projects in the partnership.

The Delivery Group comprises: Service Director Economy & Enterprise, Head of New Housing, Head of Service, Communities & Voluntary Sector Support, Head of Spatial Planning, Economy & Enterprise Projects Officer, MCI Manager, Plain Action Programme Manager, and SO1 MCI HQ 43 (Wessex) Brigade. The Delivery Group meets every 6 weeks.

MCI Programme - Fact File


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  • Currently, around 15,000 military personnel and an estimated 16,000 dependants are based in Wiltshire
  • The military is the biggest employer in Wiltshire
  • Many more jobs are ‘Defence dependent’
  • The spending power of military personnel is worth over £450m per year
  • The development of the Salisbury Plain Super Garrison and other military sites will attract multi-million pound investment into the county
  • Defence Technical Training will move to Lyneham from 2013
  • Military changes are most likely to impact on communities in Amesbury, Bulford, Calne, Chippenham, Corsham, Royal Wootton Bassett, Salisbury, Tidworth, Warminster and Wilton.
  • Around 1,000 young people are members of the cadet forces in Wiltshire
  • MoD makes a significant contribution towards conservation and environmental protection in Wiltshire
  • Military civilian integration has been adopted as one of the underlying themes of the Plain Action rural development programme

MCI-related information on the internet

Further Information

For further information, please contact: Ian Cambrook, MCI Manager, Pidela Consulting: ian.cambrook@googlemail.com


Copyright Pidela


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Last updated: 17 April 2013

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