Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what contribution his Department is making in cross-Government efforts to improve the mental wellbeing of veterans.

The Government remains fully committed to supporting veterans living in Northern Ireland and continuing to build on the good progress in delivering the Armed Forces Covenant and Veterans Strategy. We are delivering on the Government’s commitments made in the New Decade, New Approach agreement, in particular, to ensure that Northern Ireland veterans are treated similarly to their counterparts across the UK.

My Department established and sponsors the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner’s Office, which advocates for and assists veterans as they navigate services such as health and social care.

Arrangements for service delivery in Northern Ireland are slightly different from those in other parts of the UK. Many of the service delivery aspects, including health provisions, are devolved.