Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Veterans’ Welfare: Covid-19

Monday 6 July 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 3 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Darren Henry inquired about challenges veterans face in finding employment upon re-entering civilian life.
  • Simon Baynes requested the Minister to protect funding for armed forces liaison officers and support services for veterans in his area during difficult times.
  • Sharon Hodgson congratulated the Minister on the birth of his daughter and discussed the temporary suspension of the telephone service at Veterans UK.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Darren Henry Con Broxtowe
Veterans
Context

Discusses the challenges veterans face in civilian job applications and highlights the government's pledge to provide interviews for civil service positions.

Question

Last week I spoke to Forces in the Community, a charity in Broxtowe that supports veterans re-entering civilian life. We agreed that one of the hardest adjustments is finding a rewarding job, and all too often veterans fall at the first application stage because they do not have the traditional experience that employers are looking for. The Government have delivered on their manifesto pledge to harness the talent of veterans, guaranteeing an interview if they are applying for a role in the civil service, but we should aim bigger and better. Will my hon. Friend agree to meet me to discuss a pilot veteran confident employer scheme to be rolled out nationwide, so that more veterans' skills are recognised and harnessed, and they are given the boost they need to thrive as civilians?

Answer from Johnny Mercer (Minister for Defence People and Veterans)

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for his question, and I commend him on his maiden speech, in which he talked about these issues. I am very clear, and the Department is very clear, that the single biggest factor that can improve the life chances of veterans in this country is having a job. We have more veterans going into employment than ever before, but I would be delighted to meet him and hear about his specific efforts in Broxtowe.

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Q2 Simon Baynes Lab Clwyd South
NHS Veterans
Context

Concerned about the provision of funding for veterans' welfare services, particularly during the pandemic.

Question

Will the Minister look at ways to protect the funding in Clwyd South and the wider Wrexham area for the provision of armed forces liaison officers and housing and mental health support for our veterans in these difficult times?

Answer from Johnny Mercer (Minister for Defence People and Veterans)

I would be delighted to look at that. We have secured specific funding during this challenging time—£6 million out of the Treasury, which has gone to over 100 armed forces charities dealing with the unique challenges of this crisis. I am determined that we will realise this Government's vision to make this the best country in the world to be a veteran. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and find out what more we can do.

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Q3 Sharon Hodgson Lab Washington and Sunderland West
Veterans
Context

Questions whether the government's figures accurately reflect veteran usage of alternative communication channels.

Question

I want to start by wishing the Minister and his wife a huge congratulations on the birth of their daughter, Audrey. The Government's ambition is to make the UK the best country in the world to be a veteran, and the Opposition obviously share that ambition, but for 10 and a half weeks, the telephone service of the Veterans UK helpline was closed. The Minister will no doubt say that there was an email service, but his own figures show that that email service saw an overall reduction of over 10,000 contacts on average per month between April and June this year compared with last year, proving that veterans were not emailing instead. What assessment has he made of the impact of the closure of the telephone service on those people who would normally have called the helpline?

Answer from Johnny Mercer (Minister for Defence People and Veterans)

I thank the hon. Member for her kind comments about my daughter. She is right—the telephone service was briefly suspended while Veterans UK, like every other organisation in the country, tried to reconfigure its services, to ensure that we met the demand out there. We have helped over 13,000 veterans since 23 March. Per month, we make 470,000 pension and compensation scheme payments. I am still unaware—as I was six weeks ago, when I spoke from the Dispatch Box—of a single veteran whose urgent need has not been responded to, but if she is aware of any, I would be more than happy to meet her and find out what we can do better.

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