Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on the implementation of the Government’s Strategy for Our Veterans.

The Strategy for our Veterans sets out the Government’s ambition to make the UK the best place to be a veteran anywhere in the world. In January the Government published its first Action Plan to deliver this strategy following a UK-wide consultation on how to implement it.

This plan included the creation of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, which this Government has already delivered, and that Office are responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Strategy. A number of the actions are already complete, such as the establishment of charity-facing posts within the Ministry of Defence and the recruitment of more Jobcentre Plus Armed Forces Champions, to help those who have left the military transition into employment. Progress is being made in all areas, with a number of other commitments due to be completed in the coming months; these include the publication of a factsheet drawing together key data on veterans, and shortly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will publish guidance for local authorities on allocating social housing for the Armed Forces community. In addition to the actions set out in the Strategy, we have already set out plans to introduce railcards for veterans and make it easier for veterans to get an interview for a job in the Civil Service.

Work on many of the other commitments in the consultation’s action plan is in full swing, and the Government looks forward to announcing further progress over the coming months.