Meeting of the Parliament 09 December 2025
I have spoken in this debate on a number of occasions over the years, and I am pleased to do so again today. First, as others have done, I thank all those who have served in our armed forces over the years, and I thank those who are currently serving. As Paul Sweeney said, we live in difficult times, and it is important that we recognise the role that our armed forces and service personnel play in our country.
I note that the UK Government recently launched a veterans strategy—the first in seven years, I think—and I welcome that. I heard what the minister said earlier, and I would hope that the Scottish and UK Governments will work together, specifically in an area such as this. If they can work together, those from Scotland who have served and who are serving in our armed forces will reap the rewards.
I note that the report from the Scottish Veterans Commissioner shows good progress, and that is definitely to be welcomed. Over the years that I have talked in these debates I have often mentioned housing. We know that we have a massive housing challenge. In my experience in Fife over the past year or two, in cases where I have been approached by people coming out of the armed forces, Fife Council housing services, despite the massive challenges that they face, have been really good, working with veterans to ensure that they get housing. There is a lot of good stuff happening in local authorities, although I note from her report that the commissioner says that we need to adopt
“a faster pace and greater scale of delivery”.
I have not heard much in recent years about the armed forces champions; I have spoken about that in the past. My experience when I was the leader of Fife Council was that the armed forces champions played a pivotal role in ensuring that local authority services were focused. The minister, when he is summing up, might want to mention something about that. It is a crucial area. Local authorities have a major role to play in any strategy in the future.
I note what the commissioner said about a more joined-up approach for education, training and skills. There needs to be a more strategic approach. Colleges play a key part in how we organise and develop a more strategic approach to bring all the key players together. There is a role for employers, too. When people come out of the armed forces, they should be able to link into the local area that they are going back to live in. There should be some kind of strategic group there, engaging with employers, colleges and so on for the skills that people may need.
I know that the armed forces do so much before individuals leave but, if somebody is coming back from a base down in the south of England back to Fife, for example, we need some kind of collaboration at the local level, working with the armed forces to ensure that the support goes in, as well as working with employers.
Finally, because I am running out of time, I note that there is an organisation in Cowdenbeath—your constituency, Presiding Officer—the Knights Templar Goodwill Charity of Scotland, which both of us have visited, that does masses of work with veterans and the wider community. It is also out on the streets at the weekends in Glasgow and Edinburgh, supporting people.
We must recognise that there are quite a number of third sector organisations that do a lot of work yet are struggling for resources. As part of the collaboration that we need to see, we must recognise the third sector. However, overall, there has been good progress—well done.
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