Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent homelessness for veterans as part of the (a) National Plan to End Homelessness and (b) Inter-Ministerial Group on homelessness, and how Op FORTITUDE interacts with the National Plan to End Homelessness.

This Government is clear that one veteran rough sleeping is one too many. This Government is fully committed to ensuring that all veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. This programme, alongside Op FORTITUDE, will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

In December last year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published A National Plan to End Homelessness, the Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy and will continue to do so through its attendance at the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping. This includes ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness; and recognises the importance of veteran-specific support such as Op FORTITUDE, putting the service that has already supported over 1,100 veterans on a sustainable footing.