Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the independent review into the historic treatment of LGBT armed forces personnel will (a) open and (b) publish its findings.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State for Defence have commissioned an independent Review into the impact of the pre 2000 ban on homosexuality in the Armed Forces. The Review will look at the experiences of former LGBT service personnel, and make evidence-based recommendations, including on how the Government can better tailor support to the LGBT veteran community. An independent Chair will be announced shortly, after which the full terms of reference will be published and the Review can commence. As the Review is independent, we cannot comment on potential findings and recommendations that it may make.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the budget for the Office for Veterans Affairs for each year from 2019-20 to 2024-25.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) was set up in October 2019 and annual spending has been as follows:
2019/20: £50k (actual spend)
Represents initial set-up costs following the OVA’s establishment in October 2019, part-way through the financial year.
2020/21: £1.6m (actual spend)
Reflects expenditure on building OVA capability and capacity during this period, and the impact of the COVID pandemic on delivery.
2021/22: £4.4m (forecast spend)
In addition to full year expenditure, the OVA is working with the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust to distribute a further £5 million through the Afghanistan Veterans Fund, as announced by the Prime Minister in September 2021.
The budgets for 2022-23 and future years are not yet confirmed and will be set in accordance with the department's annual process of business planning. The OVA will also deliver the £5m Veterans Health Innovation Fund in 2022/23, as announced at the Budget in October 2021.
The budget allocated to the OVA represents only part of the Government's wider support for veterans. The Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan, launched on 19 January 2022, outlines over 60 commitments funded by over £70 million from departments across Government, including initiatives on health and wellbeing, employment opportunities, digitalisation of services, and enhanced research and data. These commitments build on recent progress and support including the National Insurance contribution holiday for employers of Service leavers, and the introduction of the Veterans Railcard.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the £5 million boost for armed forces charities announced by the Government on 6 September 2021, how much and what proportion of that funding has been distributed to armed forces charities; how many of those charities have received additional funding from that £5 million; and how much each of those charities has received.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The £5 million additional funding for Armed Forces charities is being delivered via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust through an open competition. Applications opened on 13 December 2021 and will close on 17 January 2022. Applications will be assessed after this date and the successful charities will be notified in due course. Charities who wish to submit applications can do so via https://covenantfund.org.uk/.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of former service personnel sleeping rough each year since 2010.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Current evidence does not show that veterans are more likely to become homeless or sleep rough than the general population.
Less than 1% (0.9%) of households sleeping rough and seeking government support in England in 2020/21 have at least one household member who has served in the Armed Forces.
The government has put support in place to help veterans to access housing. The government has produced new guidance for Local Authorities to ensure veterans are not disadvantaged by their service when applying for social housing, as well as removing the local connection test to assist the transition into civilian accommodation.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Government contracts there have been where Departments have sought and (a) received and (b) not received assurances regarding contractor’s tax affairs, by Department, since 2014-15.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the figures published by his Department in January 2019 on Population projections: UK armed forces veterans residing in Great Britain 2016 to 2018, whether he plans to publish more recent figures.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
For the first time, a question was added to the England and Wales census asking respondents if they have previously served in the UK Armed Forces. A range of new statistics on the veteran population will be published by the Office for National Statistics once the data collected from the census is analysed, including the total number of veterans residing in England and Wales. In Scotland, the census will be carried out in 2022, and will also include a question asking respondents whether they have previously served. In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) will collect data on the total number of veterans in Northern Ireland and the 11 Local Government Districts.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 41 of his Department’s Integrated Review 2021, how many critical vulnerabilities in the cyber systems of the public sector has the National Cyber Security Centre addressed as at 13 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
It is for each public sector organisation to remediate vulnerabilities in their systems and this information is not held centrally. This is achieved through activities such as designing systems to be secure, regularly patching, continuous monitoring, security testing and vulnerability disclosure programmes. The NCSC and Cabinet Office provide expert advice and guidance to help public sector organisations address critical vulnerabilities.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) policy, (b) administrative and (c) advisory support the civil service provides to select committees.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The civil service does not provide policy, administrative or advisory support to select committees.
The Government supports the work of select committees by providing information and evidence to their inquiries.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the rate of unemployment among veterans.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Veterans offer a vast range of skills and talent to civilian employers and the Government recognises that having a job is one of the key foundations for those leaving the Armed Forces to transition into civilian life. This is why the Government is taking a number of steps to support veterans into employment such as making it easier to join the Civil Service and introducing a national insurance tax break for their employers. The MOD’s Careers Transition Partnership supports Service leavers entering the job market. Of the 2018/19 UK regular service leavers who used a CTP service, and reported their employment outcomes, 86% were employed, 8% economically inactive, and 6% unemployed six months after using the service.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent suicide among veterans.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In January 2019, the Government published the first Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, which sets out an ambitious programme across national and local government and the NHS. This includes actions being taken forward by MoD and NHS England for veterans and armed service personnel. The Government has committed to publishing an updated workplan and progress report against the National Strategy, expected in Spring 2021.
The majority of veterans successfully access mental health programmes available to the general population through the NHS, however for those veterans who need extra support, the NHS in England offers bespoke and specialist mental health services, which benefit from over £10m investment per year. Recent months have seen the rollout of the new NHS England High Intensity Service, which will provide further specialist care for veterans with acute mental health needs or who are in a mental health crisis. The Government has also provided £6 million in funding to support 100 service charities during the Covid-19 pandemic, including charities supporting veterans with their mental health.