Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of veterans that were treated by the NHS for addiction in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No such estimates have been made, as the information is not held in the format requested. Veterans may be treated in several National Health Service settings, including primary care, community mental health, and specialist services. Veterans are not systematically identified in all settings, and data is not systematically collated and aggregated across settings.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of veterans that were treated by the NHS for depression in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No such estimates have been made, as the information is not held in the format requested. Veterans may be treated in several National Health Service settings, including primary care, community mental health, and specialist services. Veterans are not systematically identified in all settings, and data is not systematically collated and aggregated across settings.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans were treated by the NHS for bipolar disorder in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No such estimates have been made, as the information is not held in the format requested. Veterans may be treated in several National Health Service settings, including primary care, community mental health, and specialist services. Veterans are not systematically identified in all settings, and data is not systematically collated and aggregated across settings.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15549 on LGBT Veterans Independent Review, what his target date is for implementation of the outstanding recommendations of that review.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The LGBT Veterans Review examined the treatment of LGBT serving personnel during the Ban. The Government has accepted the intent behind all 49 of the review’s recommendations, have already completed 28 (as of 18 April 2024) and we are working at pace to deliver those that remain. Our committed deadlines can be found in the Government's formal response to the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to prevent veterans’ personal data from being breached by malign actors.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Ministry of Defence takes Cyber Security seriously including protecting personal data for all defence people including veterans.
Defence employs a Cyber Risk Management Framework that regularly reviews and escalates risk. This uses evidence from a variety of sources including as the Cabinet Office’s Gov Assure ‘Cyber Assessment Framework’ (CAF). All Defence Organisations sit within this framework.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans in prison have applied for the Veterans’ ID card.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
To date, twenty-five applications for a Veteran's Recognition Card have been received from Veterans in custody. Of those, one has been despatched and the remaining applications have been approved and are in the process of being printed.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 18969 on Veterans: Identity Cards, when he plans to send that letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I responded to the hon. Member on 5 April 2024, and a copy of my letter was placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans in prison have received a Veterans’ ID card.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
To date, twenty-five applications for a Veteran's Recognition Card have been received from Veterans in custody. Of those, one has been despatched and the remaining applications have been approved and are in the process of being printed.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 20856 on Schools: Veterans, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a training scheme for veterans to become (a) headteachers and (b) members of schools’ Senior Leadership Teams.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Schools are best placed to decide on the development need of their staff and the leadership structure that best suits their pupils. That is why the department has given all trusts and schools the authority to make their own recruitment decisions, including for headteachers and senior leaders, using their own policies and procedures in line with Employment Law, Equality Action 2010 and Safer Recruitment Guidance to recruit appropriate individuals. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/616e92fd8fa8f529777ffc40/Staff_Advice_Handbook_Update_-_October_2021.pdf
Experience at various levels of teaching is an important factor for successful leadership of schools and, as such, almost all senior leaders and headteachers have been awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) and have experience as a class teacher before progressing to senior roles within schools.
For existing teachers and senior leaders, including veterans that have changed career and are working in schools, there is a range of specialist and leadership National Profession Qualifications available to provide training and support at all levels. These provide support to a range of professionals from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those who aspire to be members of school leadership teams and those leading multiple schools across trusts. Interested applicants can learn more about the qualifications and eligibility for scholarship funding by visiting the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-professional-qualification-npq-courses.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 20858 on Schools: Veterans, what steps her Department plans to take to increase the number of people taking up the undergraduate teaching bursary for veterans.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The £40,000 tax free undergraduate veteran teaching bursary is available to veterans who have left full time employment from the British Army, Royal Air Force, or Royal Navy and enrol on an eligible undergraduate initial teacher training (ITT) course. The bursary is paid over the final two years of the course with £20,000 payable in each year. Veterans who have a degree can undertake postgraduate ITT courses where they can access the bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 available on these routes into teaching.
The department remains committed to promoting opportunities for service leavers and veterans, including supporting their journey into teaching in primary, secondary and further education through its broad support services and bursaries. Since the publication of its commitments in the ‘Veterans Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 2024’, the department has ensured that there is tailored support available for the veteran community including dedicated teacher training advisers, webpages, case study blogs on the Get Into Teaching website and information in Civvy Street publications. More information on this support can be found at the following links:
The department also collaborates with the Career Transition Partnership and British Forces Resettlement Service to provide bespoke webinars, and presence at regional employer fairs. More information about these can be found at the following links:
The department regularly engages with international governments to share best practice on how to attract and retain talented teachers from all backgrounds and on how to support all teachers in their career journeys. The department’s digital services that manage the ITT application process have been designed to be as user friendly as possible and have been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure they help remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.