Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the recruitment of new members to the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees has been paused; and what plans he has to restart that process.

Ministry of Defence officials are currently working through the latest advice that the Veterans Advisory and Pension Committees have provided, for which I am most grateful. We are currently considering their functions and activity against wider Departmental priorities around veterans, which include the new VALOUR initiative, and recruitment remains paused for the present.

Regarding support for veterans residing in Northern Ireland, we continue to build on the effective collaborative between the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, Veterans Welfare Service Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Commissioner’s Office, including enhancing partnerships with the wider veteran support system, such as the Thrive Together programme led by Brooke House.