Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the £50 million allocated to the new VALOUR comes from his Department's existing budget.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
VALOUR is a new commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support. A new VALOUR HQ within the Ministry of Defence, a network of field officers, regional VALOUR-recognised support centres, and development funding to support local delivery will be established, overseen by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs. VALOUR will foster the enterprising spirit of veteran charities, better connect local and national services and ensure veterans’ support is data driven. With new funding for veterans from the Ministry of Defence budget, the detailed structures and processes that will underpin VALOUR will be designed in collaboration with relevant partners and further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of overseas armed forces his Department is in a direct employment relationship with as of 15 October 2024.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I have interpreted your question to be asking for the number of foreign personnel on exchange or embedded with the UK Armed Forces.
The table below shows the number of foreign exchange personnel that were on strength with an active assignment, as at 15 Oct 2024, by assigned location country in either overseas or the United Kingdom.
Location Country | Foreign Exchange Personnel Count |
Overseas | 146 |
United Kingdom | 582 |
Grand Total | 728 |
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will have discussions with the Prime Minister on the potential merits of making the Minister with responsibility for veterans a member of the Cabinet.
Answered by John Healey - Secretary of State for Defence
It is my personal responsibility to represent veterans at Cabinet and I am proud to do it.
With the Office for Veterans Affairs now part of the MOD and the Minister for Veterans and People working across Government and with veteran groups, we are determined to bring forward a range of action to better serve our veteran community, including ensuring HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards to be used as voter identification, waiving visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served for four or more years and their dependents, and putting the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law.