Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner

Peter Dowd Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Peter Dowd (in the Chair)]

I will call Robin Swann to move the motion and I will then call the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the role of the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, in this Westminster Hall debate—the first that I am sponsoring. I want to take this time to cover a number of points, the first being how these things came about and the need for them, the second being the current situation and why I have secured this debate, and the third being recommendations to the Minister as to how the office should be delivered to benefit our veteran community in Northern Ireland.

The New Decade, New Approach document, co- authored by the British and Irish Governments in January 2020, saw the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly after a three-year period in which it had failed to meet or establish an Executive. Under annexe A, which covered the UK Government’s commitments to Northern Ireland, there was a section entitled “Our commitments to veterans”, which contained four points. The first was:

“Introduce UK-wide legislation to further incorporate the Armed Forces Covenant into law and support full implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant.”

The second was:

“Appoint a Northern Ireland Veterans' Commissioner to act as an independent point of contact to support and enhance outcomes for veterans in Northern Ireland.”

--- Later in debate ---

[Gavin Robinson]

I appreciate that the Minister is here today and speaks with a personal connection to this story. She will know that the commitments in NDNA were important and represented work done in the Defence Select Committee and through private Members’ Bills to make sure veterans in Northern Ireland had a strong voice, as their counterparts across the United Kingdom do. She should also know that the last number of years have proven very difficult for veterans, with the closure of the VSO and with the feeling that they are not treated the same as their counterparts across the UK. Does she understand that the most important initial step she could take would be to confirm that the NIO will advertise the position of Veterans Commissioner? Doing that now would indicate a commitment to that support.

[Peter Dowd (in the Chair)]

Order. This is a half-hour debate. I accept that people are intervening on a very important matter, but I ask Members to be careful and considerate with their interventions in such debates.

[Fleur Anderson]

Thank you, Mr Dowd. I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. In fact, my next sentence was going to be one that will please him greatly, I think. I was about to say: which is why we have moved very quickly to advertise the position of the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner. In fact it will be advertised this week, with all the details available. This debate is therefore extremely timely and can serve as a very long job advertisement for the position. I hope that many people who listen to this debate, or read it in Hansard, will consider applying for this position. It is such an important position and one on which we have moved extremely quickly as a Government, demonstrating our commitment to supporting veterans.