Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available for military veterans transitioning back into civilian life.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) supports serving personnel, veterans, the military bereaved, and their families, who have an enduring welfare need or need help to access DWP benefits or injury, bereavement and compensation schemes.
Defence Transition Services (DTS) helps Service leavers and their families, who face challenges as they leave the military and adjust to civilian life.
The support from these two services is available from two years before discharge, through into civilian life and regardless of time served or reason for discharge.
Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans (IPC4V) supports Armed Forces personnel who are leaving the services and are suffering from complex and enduring physical, neurological and mental health issues resulting from an injury that is attributable to Service.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 20858 on Teachers: Veterans, what steps her Department has taken to advertise the availability of the undergraduate teaching bursary for veterans.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The £40,000 tax free undergraduate veteran teaching bursary is available to veterans who have left full time employment from the British Army, Royal Air Force, or Royal Navy and enrol on an eligible undergraduate initial teacher training (ITT) course. The bursary is paid over the final two years of the course with £20,000 payable in each year. Veterans who have a degree can undertake postgraduate ITT courses where they can access the bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 available on these routes into teaching.
The department remains committed to promoting opportunities for service leavers and veterans, including supporting their journey into teaching in primary, secondary and further education through its broad support services and bursaries. Since the publication of its commitments in the ‘Veterans Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 2024’, the department has ensured that there is tailored support available for the veteran community including dedicated teacher training advisers, webpages, case study blogs on the Get Into Teaching website and information in Civvy Street publications. More information on this support can be found at the following links:
The department also collaborates with the Career Transition Partnership and British Forces Resettlement Service to provide bespoke webinars, and presence at regional employer fairs. More information about these can be found at the following links:
The department regularly engages with international governments to share best practice on how to attract and retain talented teachers from all backgrounds and on how to support all teachers in their career journeys. The department’s digital services that manage the ITT application process have been designed to be as user friendly as possible and have been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure they help remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of employing veterans in schools to provide courses on leadership and resilience for (a) teachers and (b) students.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
A key principle behind the government's plan for education is to give teachers and school leaders the freedom to use their professional judgement to do what works best for their pupils. As such, headteachers are ultimately responsible for employment in their schools and the department trusts them to take decisions about the right mix of qualifications, skills and experience that they expect teachers in their schools to have.
The department recently reviewed the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF) alongside each other and revised the ITT CCF and the ECF into the combined and updated Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF). This now covers the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career, and sets out the entitlement of every trainee and early career teacher (ECT) to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching. The ITTECF is universal and designed to work for all teachers, across all phases and subjects.
Beyond this, school leaders are responsible for ensuring their workforce has appropriate training to meet the needs of all pupils, which is in line with the department’s position on school autonomy and school leaders being best placed to assess the needs of their pupils and workforce.
The government remains committed to supporting veterans with a passion for teaching to enter the profession, both in schools and the further education sector. The department is working with the Ministry of Defence to ensure veterans are aware of the range of programmes and support available through the department’s services and bursaries.
Veterans are eligible for a tax-free undergraduate bursary of £40,000 if they are:
Graduate veterans may also be eligible for a postgraduate scholarship or bursary if they are training to teach priority subjects.
More information on how the department support veterans to become teachers, including the offer of one-to-one support from a teacher training advisor, can be found here: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-and-support/if-youre-a-veteran.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 15551 on Civil Servants: Veterans, how many minority ethnic veterans were employed through the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative in the last 12 months.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government is committed to making sure that all veterans have equal opportunities and can access valuable, sustainable careers, including in the Civil Service, after they leave the Armed Forces.
There are a range of Civil Service recruitment initiatives for veterans, offering a fulfilling career in public service which makes the most of the skills and capability they have to offer. Over 1,000 veterans to date have secured a job in the Civil Service through the ‘Great Place to Work for Veterans’ initiative and a further 200 veterans have been recruited through the 'Going Forward Into Employment' initiative.
Whilst a breakdown of demographics of veterans who apply to Civil Service roles is not currently available, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is committed to enhancing the collection, use and analysis of data across the public, private and charitable sectors to build our evidence base to effectively identify and address the needs of veterans
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15550 on Civil Servants: Veterans, whether his office captures regional data on veterans who access employment through the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government is committed to making sure that all veterans have equal opportunities and can access valuable, sustainable careers, including in the Civil Service, after they leave the Armed Forces.
There are a range of Civil Service recruitment initiatives for veterans, offering a fulfilling career in public service which makes the most of the skills and capability they have to offer. Over 1,000 veterans to date have secured a job in the Civil Service through the ‘Great Place to Work for Veterans’ initiative and a further 200 veterans have been recruited through the 'Going Forward Into Employment' initiative.
Whilst a breakdown of demographics of veterans who apply to Civil Service roles is not currently available, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is committed to enhancing the collection, use and analysis of data across the public, private and charitable sectors to build our evidence base to effectively identify and address the needs of veterans
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15551 on Civil Servants: Veterans, whether his office captures demographic data on veterans who access employment through the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government is committed to making sure that all veterans have equal opportunities and can access valuable, sustainable careers, including in the Civil Service, after they leave the Armed Forces.
There are a range of Civil Service recruitment initiatives for veterans, offering a fulfilling career in public service which makes the most of the skills and capability they have to offer. Over 1,000 veterans to date have secured a job in the Civil Service through the ‘Great Place to Work for Veterans’ initiative and a further 200 veterans have been recruited through the 'Going Forward Into Employment' initiative.
Whilst a breakdown of demographics of veterans who apply to Civil Service roles is not currently available, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is committed to enhancing the collection, use and analysis of data across the public, private and charitable sectors to build our evidence base to effectively identify and address the needs of veterans
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 20858 on Schools: Veterans, what steps her Department plans to take to increase the number of people taking up the undergraduate teaching bursary for veterans.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The £40,000 tax free undergraduate veteran teaching bursary is available to veterans who have left full time employment from the British Army, Royal Air Force, or Royal Navy and enrol on an eligible undergraduate initial teacher training (ITT) course. The bursary is paid over the final two years of the course with £20,000 payable in each year. Veterans who have a degree can undertake postgraduate ITT courses where they can access the bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 available on these routes into teaching.
The department remains committed to promoting opportunities for service leavers and veterans, including supporting their journey into teaching in primary, secondary and further education through its broad support services and bursaries. Since the publication of its commitments in the ‘Veterans Strategy Action Plan 2022 to 2024’, the department has ensured that there is tailored support available for the veteran community including dedicated teacher training advisers, webpages, case study blogs on the Get Into Teaching website and information in Civvy Street publications. More information on this support can be found at the following links:
The department also collaborates with the Career Transition Partnership and British Forces Resettlement Service to provide bespoke webinars, and presence at regional employer fairs. More information about these can be found at the following links:
The department regularly engages with international governments to share best practice on how to attract and retain talented teachers from all backgrounds and on how to support all teachers in their career journeys. The department’s digital services that manage the ITT application process have been designed to be as user friendly as possible and have been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure they help remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.
Reduce VAT for veterans
- Final Signatures: 82
I would like the Government to reduce the amount of VAT for all veterans, with a higher level of reduction for injured veterans.
Found: Reduce VAT for veterans
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on accommodation for veterans in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government is committed to supporting all veterans with securing appropriate accommodation.
In 2023, we launched Op FORTITUDE, the dedicated referral scheme for veterans facing homelessness and rough sleeping, which is part of a broader £8.55 million of funding for specialist help and wrap-around support for veterans in more than 900 supported housing units.
This is in addition to establishing the Veteran Capital Housing Fund, which is dedicating £20 million over three years to fund the refurbishment of existing affordable and social rental properties and the development and delivery of new build projects.
Through these programmes, the Government is not only supporting the sustainable supply of veteran housing, but also ensuring that no veteran is forced to sleep rough due to a lack of provision.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to publish proposals for a compensation scheme for veterans who have experienced ill health as a result of exposure to radiation while on active service.