Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for Veterans' Affairs has begun work with the Disability Unit to share best practice with Disabled Persons Organisations on how veterans use adaptive sport to help increase activity levels and participate in communities, as committed to in the Veterans Strategy Action Plan.

The Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan includes over 60 cross-government commitments and has made good progress in its delivery since its launch in January 2022. I will answer each question in turn:

• The Office for Veterans' Affairs has established both an advisory group of academics and researchers, as well as a working group composed of representatives from the Devolved Administrations to meet quarterly.
• The Office for Veterans’ Affairs continues to keep the governance of veterans issues across government under review, and has recently advertised for vacancies on the Veterans’ Advisory Board. I look forward to announcing new board members in due course.
• The Office for Veterans' Affairs has recently delivered the bespoke campaign on employability via a media partnership. We have also further developed tailored veteran employment schemes in the public sector, including Great Place to Work in the Civil Service, Advance into Justice in the Prison Service, and Step into Health. Employers taking on veterans in their first civilian job now benefit from a 12-month National Insurance holiday. We’ve introduced tailored employment schemes in the public sector, and work closely with the private sector to enhance opportunities for veterans to make the best use of their skills.
• The commitment on sharing best practice with Disabled Persons Organisations was delivered in March, when I hosted a roundtable meeting to discuss the experiences and developments in veteran adaptive sports. I also had the opportunity to recently see veteran adaptive sports in action at the Invictus Games in The Hague and the Veteran Games in Tel Aviv.