Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on meeting its obligations to veterans in accordance with the Military Covenant.

My Department takes its ongoing responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously. Good progress has been made in some key areas.

DWP officials play an active part in the Armed Forces Covenant Reference Group, which brings together officials from across Government with a number of service organisations. DWP also has a nominated Armed Forces Advocate who is responsible for ensuring that the needs of service personnel, their families and veterans are properly catered for by the Department. This means ensuring that these groups are not disadvantaged as a result of military service, and providing special treatment where appropriate.

Every Jobcentre district has an “Armed Forces Champion”, who works with the Career Transition Partnership, and also links with providers and charities giving specialist support, such as the Royal British Legion.

DWP has ensured that War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme will be fully disregarded in calculating an award of Universal Credit. Working with the Ministry of Defence we introduced the Armed Forces Independence Payment to provide financial support to service personnel and veterans seriously injured as a result of service to cover the extra costs they may have as a result of their injury. And we have ensured that ex-service personnel can have early access to the Work Programme.

These are just some examples of how DWP is meeting its obligations to the Armed Forces Community through the benefits system and support in finding employment.