Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support improved mental health amongst veterans in Northern Ireland.

Upon discharge from the Armed Forces, the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, is the purview of the NHS in England, and the Devolved Administrations in the rest of the UK. We are currently working with the NI Veterans Support Office (VSO) to take forward the important work of delivering the Armed Forces Covenant to our veterans in NI. The VSO has developed strong links between the NI Government Departments, Local Government Veterans’ Champions and the voluntary and charitable sector. This work with the VSO is key in building coherence and co-ordination among services through the NI Veterans Support Committee (NIVSC). The NIVSC was set up to improve cooperation between those organisations who are permanently based in NI and are committed to delivering support services to veterans.