Veterans: Employment

(asked on 29th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the range of support provided by her Department to members of the armed forces in the transition to civilian life; what proportion of veterans are employed within three months of discharge; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 5th July 2021

The Department remains committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and will do what is necessary to help and support members of the Armed Forces Community to transition to civilian life.

We have recently introduced our new model for Armed Forces Champions which comprises 50 Armed Forces Champions working alongside 11 Group Leads at managerial level.

It means for the first time that there is at least one Armed Forces Champion in each Jobcentre Plus District and resources in the new network are targeted where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example in garrison towns, and here the Armed Forces work will form a significant part of that done in individual Jobcentres.

In addition to the Armed Forces Champions roles, all 27,000 DWP Work Coaches are trained to provide veterans and others with the help and support they need.

We have also recently introduced an Armed Forces “identifier” on to the Universal Credit system, giving customers the opportunity to tell us whether they are a veteran or currently serving. This will help us ensure that veterans and serving personnel receive any additional support they need.

We have a range of other support arrangements in place for members of the Armed Forces community. For example, veterans are given early voluntary entry to the Work and Health Programme.

We also work alongside the Career Transition Partnership, whose resettlement provision helps personnel leaving the Armed Forces prepare for entering the civilian job market and to make a successful transition to employment. The outcomes are good; 84% of veterans are employed within 6 months of discharge. These rates compare very favourably with the wider population, where 76% are in employment.

The Government’s preferred method is to look at employment outcomes from within 6 months of discharge as those collected earlier are likely to provide unfair reflections on “unplanned exits” who are only able to receive minimal employment support prior to leaving service.

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