Hansard

I absolutely share Christine Grahame’s concerns, which are held across the veterans sector in Lothian. I offer her the reassurance that the Government remains engaged in that issue, to the extent that the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport and I will meet NHS Lothian next week.

As I said, the five remaining V1P services, local arrangements in place in NHS Highland and Shetland, and the delivery of an online clinical service by Combat Stress mean that veterans will have access to veteran-specific services across most of Scotland, but we want that to apply to all of Scotland.

I also note concerns about the pace of progress in implementing the pathway to prevent homelessness for veterans. I outline the positive work that has been progressed during a challenging time for the sector, and it is important to acknowledge that the number of homeless veterans in Scotland remains low. They are a relatively small proportion—around 2 per cent—of homeless households. However, I recognise the concern in that area.

The broad action that the Scottish Government is taking in response to the housing emergency will serve veterans’ housing interests as well as those of the wider population. Our Housing (Scotland) Bill includes new homelessness prevention duties that are designed to help people to get the support that they need earlier. That will help people to avoid the crisis of homelessness and the associated long-term harms.

The proposed new duties build on the existing rights for all those in housing need in Scotland, including veterans. We recognise that, when veterans become homeless, they might have particular needs. We will continue to work with partners, including the Veterans Scotland housing group, to prevent homelessness and improve outcomes for veterans. The Minister for Housing and I are considering what can be done, alongside the Government’s wider work on housing and homelessness, to better support veterans’ housing needs.

Despite those concerns, we have made progress in several areas, with dedicated partners from the public and third sectors. Collaboration remains at the heart of our approach, and I am grateful for the continuing work of our outstanding veterans sector.

This year, we have seen progress with obtaining data on veterans, particularly from the census. It is difficult to overstate the importance of that. The census told us, for example, that nearly 4 per cent of Scotland’s over-16 population have previously served in the armed forces. We should now use that data to support our veterans and their families. I have written to local authority armed forces and veterans champions across the country, so that we can consider how we deploy that information to provide better support at a local level.

Recognising the experiences of underrepresented groups in the veterans community and ensuring that they can access the support and services that they need has been a priority this year. We continue to work with stakeholders to go beyond the suggestions that were made to the Scottish Government in Lord Etherton’s “LGBT Veterans Independent Review” and ensure that the services that we fund are welcoming and inclusive to all.

I also met women veterans to understand their experiences and needs and how access to services can be improved for them. That meeting and what I heard there have stayed with me. I am absolutely committed to doing all that this Government and I can to respond to those needs. We also worked closely with the previous UK Government during the initial development of its women veterans strategy and I credit it for bringing forward that strategy. In her report on community and relationships earlier this year, the veterans commissioner highlighted support for historically underrepresented groups, and we are looking at how we can take forward the report’s recommendations.

In addition, the commissioner published a report on veterans and the law, to which I will provide a fuller response when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and I have considered the recommendations in more detail with partners in the justice sector.

Supporting veterans in both their physical and mental health remains a priority. In November last year, the general practice armed forces recognition scheme was launched. The scheme aims to raise awareness among all GP staff of some of the health challenges and impact of military service on the armed forces community, so that we can support the provision of appropriate healthcare. That was highlighted by the commissioner as a particularly welcome development, although she noted the low take-up of the scheme among GP practices, which I am personally exploring further. Let me be clear that I share entirely the commissioner’s disappointment at the uptake. To have had only around 120 of an estimated 5,000 staff avail themselves of that training is not what we had envisaged when we launched the scheme.