Significant progress has been made in a range of veterans’
support and services, including in healthcare, housing and
employment, since the launch of the Veterans’ Strategy Action
Plan six months ago, new data shows.
Significant progress has been made on delivering the Veterans’
Strategy Action Plan which was launched more than six months ago.
More than 100 NHS England Trusts have now gained ‘Veteran Aware’
status, providing the highest standard of care to veterans and
their families.
As well as healthcare, progress has also been made in other
areas, such as employment, wellbeing support, and digital
verification. These include:
-
Opening bids for the Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund, which
will develop innovative projects to enhance bespoke treatment
for injured veterans’ healthcare.
-
Rolling out the Great Place to Work for Veterans guaranteed
progression scheme across all central government departments,
making it easier than ever before for veterans to join the
Civil Service
-
Completing the first tranche of the Advance into Justice
programme, which helps veterans become prison officers - with
job offers received in May
-
Distributing £5 million of funding through the Afghanistan
Veterans Fund to charities, so they can better support
veterans of recent conflicts. This includes funding to
upgrade the Veterans Gateway website and for Samaritans to
develop a new veterans peer support hub
-
Investing £1m in new funding for a new digital service for
veterans - this will enable them to quickly and easily verify
their veteran status online.
As part of the employability support package for veterans, the
Department for Education has launched an updated
website for veterans interested in applying for the Troops to
Teach scheme.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs said:
We want to make sure that regardless of location, our veterans
can access incredible employment opportunities and the support
they may need.
Schemes such as Advance into Justice and Troops to Teach allow
veterans to bring their fantastic transferable skills into other
areas.
Great progress has been made on our provision for veterans but
there is more to do to realise our mission to make the UK the
best place in the world to be a veteran.
With more than 1500 ‘Veteran Friendly’ GP practices across
England, accessing bespoke mental health and support services is
now easier to access than ever before.
The Cabinet Office has also announced the newest members of the
Veterans’ Advisory Board, which provides independent advice to
ministers on current and future support for veterans.
This refreshed board will provide views from academia, charities,
employers and the veteran commissioners from across the UK to
provide independent insight into the veteran community and
potential opportunities to improve support.
Notes to editors
- The Veterans’ Strategy Update can be found here.
- The latest Veterans Advisory Board members list can be found
here:
- David Richmond CBE
- Susanna Hamilton
-
-
- Sir Nick Pope KCB CBE
- Prof Beverly Bergman OBE
- Nicky Murdoch MBE
- Louisa Clarke
- Lee Buss-Blair
- Leon Lloyd
- Paul Findlay MBE
