Hansard

I am pleased to open this afternoon’s debate, in which we will consider how we support our armed forces and veterans community in Scotland. I advise the chamber that it is my intention to accept all three amendments.

Just over a month ago, my colleague the Minister for Mental Health and I jointly facilitated a debate to update the chamber on the Government’s response to the latest report from the Scottish veterans commissioner and to explore a number of other issues. Many members who are here today took part in that debate, in which they shared their connections with the armed forces, personal reflections from their constituencies and views on the support available. It was evident that there continues to be a widespread commitment from across the chamber to improving support. A number of helpful ideas were aired, and I hope that today’s debate will be similarly constructive.

Since that debate, we have marked the centenary of the first world war armistice. I had the honour of representing the Scottish Government at several events, including the opening of the Edinburgh garden of remembrance, Glasgow’s service of remembrance and the festival of remembrance in Dundee. It was humbling to see so many people attend the laying of wreaths to pay their respects; the ceremonies will live long in my memory. Colleagues across the chamber will have seen similarly touching events in their own areas.

Having had that period of remembrance, we now turn to the future. We should rightly be proud of our long history of support here in Scotland in the face of changing demand and better understanding of the needs of our veterans and their families. It is time to take stock, consider how we best respond to the changed landscape and then act.

Last month, therefore, I was pleased to launch the UK-wide “Strategy for our Veterans” alongside ministers from the United Kingdom and Welsh Governments and representatives from Northern Ireland. The strategy was developed jointly across all four home nations, and represents a fully collaborative approach to achieving what is best for our veterans across the whole of the UK.

While the strategy is overarching and in some regards requires collaborative working between Governments, there is scope to tailor services to meet specific requirements in each of the nations. It sets out that we expect to see a change in demographics. Over the next 10 years, we are likely to see a generational shift in the veterans community, which will be as relevant in Scotland as it is elsewhere in the UK. That will change how we need to focus our efforts, and to that end the planned inclusion of a question on veterans in the 2021 census will be key. Today, nearly half the veterans in the UK are more than 75 years old. However, we also have cohorts of veterans who have served more recently and have different needs and expectations.

The strategy therefore sets out the vision and principles that will focus our support for all veterans over the 10 years to 2028 and beyond. It aims to make sure that

“Those who have served in the UK Armed Forces, and their families, transition smoothly back into civilian life and contribute fully to a society that understands and values what they have done and what they have to offer.”

Further, the strategy looks to fully recognise veterans as assets to our communities, enabling them to maximise their potential as civilians and making sure the right support is available to meet their needs. It assesses the barriers to and opportunities for providing support to each veteran, including improved collaboration between organisations and better co-ordination of services. Those are aims and aspirations on which I think that we can all agree.

The key thing now is how we take the strategy forward in Scotland. As many of the services accessed by veterans here are devolved, the Scottish Government is running its own consultation on the veterans strategy. We will consult key stakeholders and representative groups of veterans across the six themes of the strategy: community and relationships, which includes looking at social isolation and loneliness; employment, education and skills; finance and debt; health and wellbeing; making a home in civilian society; and veterans and the law. The consultation will run until February 2019, alongside the UK Government’s public consultation, which is open to all veterans, including those in Scotland.

In my relatively short time as minister for veterans, I have already learned that veterans and the organisations that represent them are not slow to let us know what they think. That is extremely valuable and I welcome it, particularly where the feedback is about making improvements. If we are to develop services for veterans, we need to know from those at the sharp end where our policies and processes, and those of our partners, are not translating into effective support where it is required.

We are at an advantage in Scotland in that we have our independent veterans commissioner, who has already examined in depth some of the themes covered by the strategy, consulting widely and recommending changes in relation to transition, health, housing and employability. That enables us to concentrate on a more focused consultation, canvassing the views of key stakeholders, large and small, across the public, private and third sectors and representative groups of veterans

I have already had the opportunity to meet many organisations that help to support our veterans and armed forces community, including Combat Stress, HorsebackUK, Scottish Veterans Residences, Venture Trust, the career transition partnership and Lothian Veterans Centre. All those visits have given me insights into how we could better shape our work in Government—I hope to expand on that point in my closing speech.

Among other things, those engagements also emphasised the vital role that families play in transitions and beyond, and that we must debunk the myth that the majority of our veterans are damaged. They are not—most are net contributors and assets to communities and employers.

It is important, however, to recognise that some veterans need help, and I do not shy away from that. As my colleague the Minister for Mental Health set out in our previous debate, veterans’ mental health remains a priority. The Daily Record newspaper has rightly featured the tragic cases of veterans who have taken their own lives, and it is vital that we better understand what is behind those tragedies. I will not repeat the Scottish Government actions that Ms Haughey explained previously, but I welcome the Ministry of Defence’s announcement of a study into the deaths of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important that we learn as much as we can from those deaths, to help us consider what might be done. The Scottish Government is committed to assisting in that regard.

It is also important to recognise that the problems that veterans experience are not always directly triggered by their operational experience. Issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder can stem from non-combat experiences. That has been raised with me when I have talked to veterans.

As part of the consultation, I will undertake further engagements across all the themes of the strategy. For example, tomorrow I will visit HM Prison Glenochil to meet the governor, who is himself a veteran, and a group of veterans. I am working with veterans charities, large and small, to hear a wide range of views, and last week I wrote to all armed forces and veterans champions in Scotland, to encourage them to have their say.

This debate presents an opportunity for us to hear the views of members of the Scottish Parliament. I am grateful to Maurice Corry and Mike Rumbles, whom I have met, and I ask all members to encourage groups in their constituencies to feed in through the consultation process. We want to hear veterans’ voices.

The strategy builds on a significant body of positive work that is under way across Government and more widely to champion our armed forces community and ensure that veterans face no disadvantage when they access services and support. However, we can do better. I look forward to considering the views that are generated by the consultation and, of course, those of members.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the work undertaken by the partners across all four UK nations in developing the Veterans Strategy; recognises that the Scottish Government is now coordinating a consultation process to look at how the strategy will be taken forward in Scotland, which will include discussions with key stakeholders and veterans themselves to identify future priorities and areas for improvement; notes that this consultation will build on and complement the work of the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, and agrees that the Scottish Government should continue to work in partnership to ensure that veterans and their families in Scotland are recognised as assets to communities and receive the best possible access to support and opportunities.