Veterans: Employment

(asked on 20th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to advertise the services of veteran work coaches to veterans transitioning to civilian employment.


Answered by
Mims Davies Portrait
Mims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 9th January 2023

The Department remains committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and will do what is necessary to help and support members of the Armed Forces Community to transition to civilian life. We introduced our new model for Armed Forces Champions in 2021, which comprises 50 Armed Forces Champions working alongside 11 Group Leads at managerial level. It means for the first time that there is at least one Armed Forces Champion in each Jobcentre Plus District and resources in the new network are targeted where there are particularly high levels of demand.

In addition to the Armed Forces Champions roles, all Work Coaches are trained to provide veterans and others with the help and support they need.

We have also introduced an Armed Forces “identifier” on to the Universal Credit system, giving customers the opportunity to tell us whether they are a veteran or currently serving. This will help us ensure that veterans and serving personnel receive any additional support they need, whether directly from a Work Coach or through sign-posting to other support.

We also have a range of other support arrangements in place for members of the Armed Forces community. For example, veterans are given early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme.

Information about the support is readily available on gov.uk and can be accessed using the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobcentre-plus-services-for-the-armed-forces-and-their-families

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