Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with the Cabinet colleagues to help support Armed Forces Veterans into publicly sector jobs.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence represents veterans at Cabinet. Both he and I are working across Government and with Civil Society to strengthen the support we offer to our veterans and Armed Forces Community. This includes ensuring that the Civil Service benefits from the wide range of skills and talents the veteran community has to offer.

The ‘Great Place to Work for Veterans’ (GPTW) scheme is designed to encourage more veterans to join the Civil Service when they leave the armed forces. It is an opt-in recruitment scheme which allows those eligible, who meet the minimum standard required for a role, to progress to the next stage of the application process.

‘Going Forward into Employment’ (GFiE) is a Life Chances scheme, which provides eligible veterans, spouses, and partners with opportunities within the Civil Service in a variety of roles, most of which are for entry level and up to first line management grades. GFiE recognises that some veterans face unique barriers to employment and aims to address this by making the Civil Service application process as straightforward as possible.

Other public sector initiatives include ‘Step into Health’, which supports NHS employers in the recruitment and retention of talent from the Armed Forces community and seeks to promote the value that veterans can bring to the NHS.

A range of cross-government employment support is also available to veterans and their families after their time in service. This includes the MOD-hosted Career Transition Partnership which is the initial point of resettlement provision for veterans leaving military service, with directly provided support available for two years before and two years after leaving service.

The Government is expanding UK-wide career support for the armed forces community, ensuring support for all veterans, regardless of when they left service. The careers advice service Op ASCEND offer will include a broader range of job support for veterans, helping more into employment and boosting growth under this Government’s Plan for Change. This service will work with industry bodies to make sure businesses are set up to make the most of the talents veterans have to offer, showing how the Government is renewing the contract with those who serve and have served.