Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) homeless veterans and (b) veterans experiencing mental health problems; and whether each of those issues is supported by the Armed Forces Covenant.

For details of the latest estimate of the number of homeless veterans I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Government) (Mr Jones) to Question 50027, to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) on 10 November 2016:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-10-24/50027

In the UK, primary responsibility for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans rests with the NHS in England and the Devolved Administrations. The Ministry of Defence provides advice, information and signposting to support services for veterans though its Veterans UK web pages and free telephone helpline service and we encourage veterans wishing to seek help with mental health problems to visit: www.gov.uk/mental-health-support-for-the-uk-armed-forces or call the 24-hour veterans' mental health helpline on 0800 138 1619.

The £10 million per annum Covenant Fund makes grants to support the Armed Forces community and has funded projects across all four countries in the UK to support veterans with complex needs. This includes grants made through the Veterans in the Criminal Justice System programme; and the Veterans Gateway programme which will offer signposting to veterans for a range of issues including homelessness and mental health needs through a 24 hour helpline, website and app.