As the Leader of a district council which plays a part in the lives of 160,000 East Devonians, my daily life is filled with reports and agenda items containing data.

This is important. Good decision-making at any governmental body must to be based on numbers not preconceptions.

In any given week, news might cross my desk on how many tons of recycling we’ve done, or how many litres of water have been flushed through our public toilets indicating how well-used they are. We may hear that local businesses have done well this year (many smaller ones are liable for next to no business rates) and therefore the take in rates can pay for a service otherwise under threat because of the loss of core funding from the government.

It's all detail which needs to be constantly borne in mind. However, last week we received an officer report to Cabinet which genuinely surprised me. The data concerned how many residents of East Devon there are who previously served in the UK regular or reserve armed forces. There are no fewer than 8559 East Devon residents who come into that category, which is 5.7% of the whole local population.

Many may be puzzled by this, until we consider that in East Devon we have both one of the youngest communities by age in the UK, Cranbrook, and in Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth two of the oldest. And, of course at Lympstone we have the exemplary Commando Training Centre (CTCRM) which is the principal training centre for generations of Royal Marines, many of whom settle locally when leaving the forces, some even while still serving.

To my genuine delight, a young man who I have known since he was born, Fred Thomas, is now standing as a Labour Parliamentary candidate in Plymouth Moor View, vying with another ex-serviceman Johnny Mercer MP. Richard Foord MP, a close colleague of mine and a fellow LibDem candidate later this year, was a captain in the army. At that election, I will be standing in Exmouth and Exeter East against Conservative candidate David Reed, another ex-Marine. Indeed, although we have not yet met, I feel sure that because of his military background he and I will have a well-mannered and civilised contest.

However, the picture for many ex-servicepeople is not always rosy by any means. 60% of local people who served are over 65 but unfortunately more than 9% are in bad or very bad health. 620 of social rented households have a veteran living there, 940 in the case of the private rented sector. These people don’t have the luxury of unearned gains on the property ladder.

Therefore, following an initiative from Cllr Vicky Johns from Ottery St Mary who comes from a services family herself, my Cabinet agreed to sign up a new to the “Armed Forces Covenant”. Of course, what EDDC does is already substantial. We help through, for example, disregarding War Pensions when Housing Benefit and discounts for Council Tax are assessed. We are active in helping with post-service job-hunting.

But we want to do more. We will now also sign up to the Defence Employers Recognition Scheme. We reckon we are at Bronze level now, but are targeting Silver then Gold. And once the Covenant is signed, at an event in June also marking 40 years of EDDC, we will be able to amplify our efforts and ensure that in future ex-Armed Forces personnel are always considered when we write council strategy.

I really hope that ex-servicepeople of all vintages will be able to feel that, despite their many challenges, EDDC has their back.