Veterans Strategy

Lord Walker of Aldringham Excerpts

Thursday 15th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walker of Aldringham (CB)]

My Lords, I draw attention to my charities as listed in the register of interests, and congratulate the noble Earl on setting this debate in motion at a time when we have been focusing on the Armistice and remembering those who in the last two great wars gave their lives for our freedom. Of course, the numbers—about 2.5 million today—are rather different: far smaller than those of the two wars. It is very important in talking about our veterans to get the numbers in clear perspective. I also welcome the Government’s Strategy for Our Veterans and its associated consultation document.

The issues surrounding our veterans are far from straightforward. They range across a spectrum that includes mental health problems, including depression, suicide, poverty, debt, unemployment, relationship breakdown, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, offending, violence and homelessness. Overwhelmingly, our observations and research show that most veterans in the United Kingdom are fine—but in the media, particularly, the practice has developed of portraying veterans as a homogenous damaged group. It is almost as if everyone who has served has been damaged in some way. This leads to a widespread public perception that is both wrong and harmful. It is important that we in this House do not add flames to this non-existent bonfire.

It is also somewhat bizarre that many people think that nothing is done for veterans. We have a good NHS service, and some fantastic charities support our veterans. Sometimes they fail, but, overall, if a veteran is in some sort of social crisis, he or she will get the help they need. Clearly, if veterans are to be helped, as we have heard, data on them needs to be robust. Here, I commend the Defence Committee’s recent report, which recommended that the MoD, with the appropriate departments of the four nations, works with the charity sector to agree a shared set of methodologies for collecting and analysing data. The strategy has recognised that need, so I hope that it will happen soon.

The two areas which seem to receive most attention in the public debate are homelessness and mental health. The evidence we have suggests that homelessness affects a considerable number after they leave the forces, especially younger people and the so-called early service leavers. The figure suggested is 3%, which means that each year more than 1,000 people require urgent support to find accommodation. Others experience crises in their lives which require action to prevent homelessness later in their lives.

There is still no mechanism to identify those transitioning from the Armed Forces and at risk of homelessness, or the ability to support them effectively. The Joint Service Housing Advice Office is understaffed and provides only a template briefing and no bespoke advice. The Career Transition Partnership works well for most, and best for those who have served longest, but there is no equivalent resource to support the minority of serving personnel who leave with no clear pathway to housing.

Once a veteran becomes homeless, there is little knowledge in the civilian world that there is an enhanced offer for veterans. Local authorities and homeless charities still do not “think veterans”. That is why many veterans become homeless every year and are not getting help quickly enough—although it is also worth pointing out that just over 3% of rough sleepers are veterans, whereas about 7% of the population qualify as veterans, so they remain underrepresented overall.

Despite apparently being a priority group, there is almost no statutory revenue funding for homeless veterans from local or central government. Veterans are the only supported housing sector in the UK where the majority of support costs are paid by charities, whom have to fundraise to get the money. This is unsustainable and almost unheard of anywhere else in the wider homelessness sector.

Three significant actions could improve the situation, and I should be grateful if the Minister would take these back to the MoD. First, the transition process should be altered to try to prevent any serving personnel becoming homeless after service. Every leaver, including those who leave during basic training, early service leavers, longer-serving leavers or those discharged from a military corrective training centre, should be asked about their housing options after leaving. Those identified as at risk should be given the best advice to a pathway away from homelessness.

Secondly, local authorities and other agencies in the civilian housing sphere should establish whether a person seeking housing support is a veteran, and then ensure that the veteran has a clear pathway to housing. This would be very much in line with the intent of the covenant. Thirdly, supported housing for veterans should be put on a sustainable financial basis once and for all, preferably on a national basis. A recent piece of research conducted by York University, with a number of charities, concluded that if these three changes were made it would be possible to reduce the incidence of homelessness among veterans to close to zero.

With regard to the mental health of the Armed Forces, the Defence Committee found that is very difficult to prove whether the mental health conditions that some personnel develop are caused by their military service. Non-military factors or underlying mental health conditions exacerbated by military service could all contribute to an individual’s mental health. Further, military service could have a positive effect on an individual’s mental health, although for some this positive effect merely serves to delay the onset of mental health issues when they depart the service.

On the other hand, probable PTSD is a condition, as we have already heard, that affects the Armed Forces in particular, largely because of the intense, violent and traumatic nature of warlike operations and other things that the Armed Forces get up to. At first sight, the numbers seem quite small, at between 3% and 7%,—but the true figures are quite difficult to establish. Alcohol misuse and poverty are far more prevalent, both of which have mental health implications as well as all the other social issues that I mentioned earlier. It goes to show what a complex area veterans’ mental health is.

If the Government’s strategy is serious about helping to build on the Armed Forces covenant, to show that its commitment to our brave men and women lasts long after they have left service, it needs to do more. In my view, it should establish a department of veterans’ affairs so that there is one organisation with clear ownership of our veterans and their future. It should follow the Canadian example of establishing a veterans’ ombudsman and draw up a charter of rights for veterans which would define what their entitlement was in the National Health Service and other relevant areas of our society. Veterans should not have to beg or argue for support in the 21st century; nor should they end up as objects of pity.

Realistically, however, I cannot see such a radical change being introduced. So we are left with the Armed Forces covenant—that promise from the nation that those who serve, or have served, and their families will be treated fairly. It establishes veterans as a very special group. Wonderfully well-intentioned though it is, and even though local authorities and many others have signed up to it, there is no standardisation, no clarity about entitlement and no monitoring. The strategy and the covenant will need more teeth if they are to deliver for our veterans. I very much hope that this new strategy, improved by the outcomes of the consultation document, will provide those teeth.