Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Veterans’ Career Development Fund on employment levels for veterans.

This Government is committed to making sure that our veterans and their families have equitable access and opportunity to a full range of career options after leaving military service, including access to the qualifications, training and skills development they may need to progress in their careers.

The recently announced Op PROSPER backed by £2.1 million in government funding includes the £700,000 Veterans’ Career Development Fund grant, which makes funding available to organisations providing qualifications, training and skills development to veterans and their families in locally based communities across the country.

The Veterans’ Career Development Fund is administered as a grant by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, and includes a planned evaluation of the overall Op PROSPER programme and its outcomes.