Hansard

Presiding Officer, I note your comments about the release of information. We tried hard to ensure that it did not happen, but it has happened. As you have suggested, we will reflect on how we can avoid its happening in the future. Once the information had appeared in the public sphere, I sent out a briefing note to Opposition members to ensure that they were aware of as much of the information as possible. Nevertheless, I regret the release of the information.

As Scotland prepares to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the great war, we should pause also to remember those who returned from that war injured and, in many cases, broken in other ways. They believed that they would return home to a land fit for heroes. Instead they came back, by and large, to poor housing, the prospect of unemployment and very little in the way of welfare support. Ours is a different society, and although we always strive to do more, those who leave the armed forces today have access to a wide range of support and services. In one vital respect, however, it can be argued that that earlier generation had one factor in their favour: the many people from this country who served in that conflict had a common experience and its horrors were shared on a much larger scale than is the case for those who serve today and return to join civic society.

Experience of active service is shared by far fewer people today, which reflects our success in avoiding wars on the scale of those that we had in the early part of the previous century. That also provides a strong reason why we must continue to provide particular support to veterans, many of whom have experienced conflict of one sort or another and have served with honour and pride, and have given up many of the individual freedoms that we take for granted. Not just for that reason, but for others, too, we owe them a debt of gratitude. By and large, our veterans are innovative, hard-working, entrepreneurial and civic-minded people, and they generally play a full part in making Scotland successful.

Veterans Scotland estimates that there are about 400,000 veterans in Scotland, which is almost 8 per cent of the population, and about 2,000 service leavers return to civilian life annually. Many make the transition relatively seamlessly, but a small number face particular difficulties and require our support. In some cases, we must ensure that they get special treatment in recognition of the special circumstances that they have had to endure, and I make no apology for taking that action.

In 2012, the excellent armed services advice project—ASAP—reported that although veterans often have similar support needs to the wider population, the experience of serving can also result in multiple and complex needs. Those needs can relate to welfare, access to benefits, getting back into employment, health issues or financial and debt issues, and their causes can often be traced back to the veteran’s initial transition to civilian life. The ASAP report notes that in spite of the support and advice that is available, too many veterans in Scotland slip through the net. Some continue for many years after leaving to experience problems resulting from that unsuccessful transition. That is why it is so important that we get it right at the point of transition, but it is clear that the current transition process is failing some of our veterans. That is particularly the case for early service leavers, who are not eligible for the full Ministry of Defence resettlement package, which is offered to veterans who have more than four years’ service.

In my previous role, I served in an education capacity; I remember the issues and discussions that we had then about the transition from primary school to secondary school. I am not saying that that transition is completely analogous to the transition that people make from military life to civilian life, but a fairly substantial change takes place and some of the issues are similar. It is really important that we get the transition right. Early service leavers account for half of all those who make the transition to civilian life in any given year, and some find themselves ill equipped to cope. The transition mapping study that was produced by the Forces in Mind Trust last August projected that the cost of poor transition across the United Kingdom would rise to £122 million in 2013.

Much of the responsibility for meeting the needs of service leavers in Scotland falls to the Scottish Government and to devolved public services. It is a responsibility that we take seriously, and we are committed to ensuring that they receive the full range of support. Had we the full range of powers, we would design an holistic framework of support running seamlessly from enlistment to transition.

However, transition is currently the responsibility of the UK Government. I saw how the process could be managed when I talked to people in Canada who are involved in the transition process. They, too, take a holistic approach to people serving and moving into civilian life. I have told many UK ministers over a number of years that, on the very day when somebody joins the services, we should start a plan for their return to employment and for their housing provision when they eventually leave the service.

I look forward to seeing the outcome of the UK Government’s veterans transition review, which we expect to report in February. I have made known to Lord Ashcroft my views on the failings of the current system of transition, and we have shared some suggestions for concrete improvements.

Working within our devolved powers, our priority remains the removal of any disadvantage that our veterans face in accessing public services in a way that suits their unique circumstances. Lord Ashcroft’s team said that the support that is provided in Scotland to services personnel who enter civilian life is a model to be recommended.

In September 2012, we published “Our Commitments: Scottish Government Support for the Armed Forces Community in Scotland”, which details the support that we provide to members of the armed forces and veterans. That support covers health, education, housing, justice and sport. The paper was widely welcomed by veterans organisations, as well as by the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces. They told us that it lays the foundations of an on-going productive relationship with them. It reaffirmed our clear and unequivocal message that the armed forces, their families and veterans remain at the centre of our policy thinking, as well as of our development and delivery of policies.

We have made considerable progress, which has been underpinned by significant funding commitments. We have committed more than £3.5 million to projects across Scotland that provide housing and support services for veterans and disabled ex-service personnel. We have implemented the recommendations of both Murrison reports by providing £2 million for a new national state-of-the-art prosthetics service, and more than £1.2 million of funding per year for specialist mental health services. We have also improved access to national health service services, which has included provision of access to priority treatment through new general practitioner forms, the roll-out of community health index numbers to serving personnel, and provision of a veterans’ health zone on the www.nhsinform.co.uk website.

Those successes have been made possible through working with our strategic partners, the NHS, local authorities and wider public bodies. I pay particular tribute to the ex-services sector: Veterans Scotland and others play a vital role as champions and advocates, as disseminators of good practice and in representing the interests of veterans across Scotland. That is why in November I announced that the Scottish Government would provide Veterans Scotland with capacity-building funding of £220,000 over the next two financial years. Along with a significant increase to the Scottish veterans fund, that is further evidence of our whole-hearted support for those who have served.

However, we must seek to do more and, in particular, to help veterans who slip through the net. I believe that the time is right for us to step up our commitment and to shape a response that addresses the distinct needs of veterans, and which supports public services to meet expectations for them.

Having reflected on the models that I have seen in Canada and elsewhere, I am pleased to announce the creation of a new commissioner dedicated to veterans. The Scottish veterans commissioner will have a broad remit, which will involve taking an overview of support services across Scotland. Through thematic inquiries, the commissioner will identify the need for, and will help to drive, changes that will enable those services to support veterans better.

We must ask why some veterans are still struggling to access the help that they deserve, where the gaps are and what more we can do to meet our obligations to those who have served. As I have said, we must ensure that at the first point at which a veteran tries to access public services—whether it is the council, the Government or the health service—they get the right response at the right time, because if they do not, many will not come back to seek that support, as we have found in the past.

Working with partners, the commissioner will bring renewed focus and momentum to our ambition to develop leading-edge support for veterans across our devolved responsibilities. The commissioner’s recommendations will help to build leadership and direction on veterans policy in partnership—crucially, that will be done with the strong ex-services sector. The unique role of veterans organisations in Scotland will be pivotal, and the expertise and evidence of the Royal British Legion Scotland, Poppyscotland and others will be drawn on to capture the experience of veterans. The veteran’s perspective will be fundamental to the work of the commissioner and will inform investigations and recommendations for improvement.

However, the commissioner will not be a complaints arbitration service; we will ensure that the commissioner’s remit does not duplicate the functions of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and others. We will take the time to listen to and take on board the views of key partners—especially Veterans Scotland—in order to help to shape the commissioner’s remit and work programme before the post is advertised.

I have set out what we have done to support our veterans to date and how we now propose to do more, through the development of a Scottish veterans commissioner. We will continue to work with veterans charities and public sector providers to ensure that we meet the aspirations and expectations of Scotland’s veterans.

I move,

That the Parliament acknowledges the debt of gratitude that Scotland owes to those who have served in defence of freedom; notes that, since the publication of Our Commitments: Scottish Government Support for the Armed Forces Community in Scotland in September 2012, the Scottish Government has continued to provide support to the armed forces and veterans’ communities in Scotland that has been widely welcomed by the military and the ex-service community; commends the partnership working with stakeholders, which has led to improved support, including capacity-building funding for Veterans Scotland, and further notes the Scottish Government’s intention to ensure that the response to the UK Government’s Veterans’ Transition Review addresses the distinct needs of Scottish veterans and supports public services to meet their expectations; recognises the excellent work of veterans’ organisations in supporting veterans; welcomes the number of Veterans’ Champions across Scotland, and endorses the aim of ensuring that local services are better integrated to support Scotland’s veterans.

14:29