Official Report 1039KB pdf
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-20050, in the name of Graeme Dey, on support for the veterans and armed forces community in Scotland. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons.
16:38
It is my pleasure to present the Scottish Government’s ninth annual update to the Parliament on our support for Scotland’s veterans and armed forces community. Before I reflect on the report, it is important to acknowledge what has brought us here today, which is our invaluable armed forces community, veterans, serving persons and their families, who should have access to the help, support and public services that they need, when they need them.
The impact of service life for the vast majority of people is positive, but we know that some face unique difficulties and risks as a result of their time in the military. I know that, for older veterans, for example, accessibility of services and support can present particular challenges that demand that we think outside the box and consider innovative ways to support them.
As in previous years, alongside this debate, we have published our annual report, which details fully what we and our partners have done throughout the past year. The debate is intended as a welcome opportunity to highlight successes and the progress that has been made by that collaborative effort, and to offer members the chance to challenge us on where we can do more. In the time that I have available, I hope to cover as many aspects of all that as possible.
This year, I was delighted to attend the launch of the veterans in-service injury network in Inverness. VISIN will provide independent expert clinical review of military service-related injuries that remain a concern despite treatment, either previous or current. There have already been nine referrals to the service in just a few short weeks, five of which were progressed to the multidisciplinary team.
The issue of waiting times for serving personnel has also come to the fore recently. We are aware that such delays can affect operational readiness and continuity of care and, in some cases, can lead to medical discharge due to prolonged deployment ineligibility. I understand that that is an issue in Scotland as well as in England and Wales.
To identify solutions that work within the context of the national health service in Scotland, my officials are engaged with Ministry of Defence counterparts and are exploring direct referral pathways from defence medical services to NHS services, to help to tackle issues, reduce delays and improve access.
I take this opportunity to thank the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Susie Hamilton, who is in the gallery today, for all of her hard work over the past three years, and for continuing to hold us to account for delivering our support to the veterans community.
A few months ago, the commissioner published her latest progress report, summarising our delivery against the recommendations that she and her predecessors had set out for us. I was delighted that, for the first time, we had no red assessments regarding progress against all the recommendations, which, at times during my tenure as veterans minister, has seemed as aspirational as Scotland reaching the world cup finals. However, both of those goals have been achieved—and in the same year. As the commissioner highlighted, work remains to be done, and we cannot—we will not—allow ourselves to become complacent.
Uptake of the general practice armed forces and veterans recognition scheme remains unacceptably low, and it is vital that it improves to ensure that as many veterans and armed forces families receive the understanding and tailored care that they deserve in primary healthcare settings.
Does the minister agree with me and Forces Children Scotland about the challenge that children of service people face in this transition? Does he agree that children should be explicitly mentioned and targeted in the whole-family wellbeing support that the Scottish Government is championing?
Martin Whitfield makes a reasonable point.
I go back to the point that I was making when I took Martin Whitfield’s intervention. Work is under way to intensify promotion of the scheme in question, with the help of some of our key stakeholders. I hope to report that significantly more practices have signed up in the coming months.
Plans are now progressing quickly for our veterans mental health and wellbeing pathway, and we hope to have in place the pilot for that quite soon. It is essential that we balance pace with quality and ensure that the pathway meets the complex needs of veterans and builds confidence in the system from day 1.
The number of veterans who are assessed as homeless has decreased by 3 per cent over the past year, while the proportion of veterans in the overall number of households that are assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness has remained at 2 per cent, which is roughly proportionate to the veterans’ population as a whole. However, we know that some veterans can be at greater risk of homelessness, and that is recognised in our homelessness strategy and in our housing emergency action plan.
Just last week, I met the Scottish Veterans Commissioner and Màiri McAllan, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, to discuss the work that is under way with key stakeholders and to agree the best approach to progressing the recommendations in the veterans homelessness prevention pathway relating to local authorities and social landlords. In addition, we are working with Veterans Scotland’s housing group on prioritisation of the key pathway recommendations for the Scottish Government.
Parliament passed the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 this year. The legislation will, along with vital partnership working with our stakeholders, help us to support our veterans in their times of need. We continue to engage with underrepresented groups in the armed forces and veterans community in Scotland to ensure that their needs and experiences are better understood and supported.
As colleagues will be aware, last month the commissioner published a short report into the bereaved armed forces community. Although the report did not include any formal recommendations, we will be taking forward, as a priority, work to raise awareness of the bereaved armed forces community and the need, as she rightly pointed out, to ensure that they are explicitly referenced and considered within the development of policies, guidance and services, where that is appropriate.
I and the Government remain committed to providing the very best support for our veterans, their families and service families. The report sets out the breadth of work that has been undertaken over the past year and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the veterans and their families suffer no disadvantage as a result of their service.
I give my heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to this work—our partners in the public, private and third sectors, and the many individuals who worked tirelessly every day to support our armed forces community. Together, we will continue to build a Scotland that recognises the contributions of our veterans and their families and ensures that they are supported to lead fulfilling lives.
I look forward to members’ contributions to the debate, and to responding to them in due course.
Minister, can you move the motion?
I move,
That the Parliament acknowledges and recognises the importance of Scotland’s veterans and Armed Forces community and greatly values the significant contribution that it makes to society; recognises that the skills and experiences that it brings enrich communities; continues to support the Veterans Strategy Action Plan, which has a clear vision to ensure the best outcomes for veterans and their families; notes the progress made in delivering the action plan and the future work to develop an updated plan following the publication of the new UK-wide Veterans Strategy; welcomes the findings of the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s latest progress report and acknowledges both the successes she identifies and the areas where further work is needed, and agrees that the Scottish Government should continue to work with partners across the public, private and third sectors to ensure that the veterans and Armed Forces community receives the access to support that they need.
16:45
I thank the minister for giving Parliament the opportunity to have a debate on veterans, and I thank Susie Hamilton for the work that she has done over the past year. I am delighted to say that I, too, welcome the work that the Scottish Government has undertaken to help our veterans—the veterans who stood by us.
I do not need to remind Parliament that national service stopped being a requirement in 1960 and that the last national serviceman probably left the services in 1963. Many of us do not know how many veterans are out there. We probably do not know that a person we are talking to is actually a veteran until we see them wearing a medal at a remembrance Sunday parade, whether it be a campaign medal or a medal for valour.
We could probably all put our hands on our hearts and name some of the conflicts that our soldiers have been involved in since the second world war. We could probably reel off Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the first Gulf war, the second Gulf war, Afghanistan and probably a few others. However, do we really know the extent to which our armed services have been involved in those conflicts and where they have been deployed? I can list a few. We have been involved in 45 official conflicts and many others besides. We could talk about Libya, Sierra Leone, Yugoslavia, Belize, Gambia, Angola, Oman, Tanzania, Uganda, Cyprus, Malaya, Kenya, Aden and many more. I will not list them all, but there is a huge amount of them.
To my mind, we owe a debt of gratitude to those veterans who stood by us, fought on our behalf and, when they were not fighting, helped to keep the peace in the places that I have mentioned. They allowed us to rest easy in our beds at night, so we owe them the ability to have a bed themselves. After the 1914-18 war, we gave many returning soldiers smallholdings across the country to allow them to come back to a house and to farm the land. I think that that was a great idea. Over the past 110 years, Veterans Housing Scotland, which we know a lot about, has been helping veterans to obtain housing.
I remind members that, currently, about 176,000 people across Scotland have served our country. Fifty per cent of those are over 65 years of age. In my area, in Moray, we have a high proportion of veterans—about 9 per cent of the population. In Highland, the proportion is slightly less, at 5 per cent. Those veterans play a huge part in society. Their great contribution has been recognised in the NHS and Police Scotland reports that we have read, which recognise that veterans bring so much to us.
Businesses across the country recognise the skills that veterans bring, whether in problem solving or in being worldly wise when they look to address problems. In my opinion, we need to encourage veterans to move to and settle in Scotland, and to help them do that. That is why the Conservatives have lodged an amendment that seeks to increase the availability of housing for veterans who move back here.
In the reports that she has presented the Scottish Veterans Commissioner makes the point that we need to do more on local housing strategy. In the amendment lodged on behalf of my party, I propose that the Scottish Government should talk to the UK Government to see whether any armed forces married quarters could be made available to retiring service personnel to facilitate them moving back to Scotland, possibly at a reduced rent for a period of up to a year, so that they can bring their skills back here and we can seek to use them.
Will the member give way?
If I have time, I will give way to the minister.
I apologise, as I should have said in my opening speech that the Government will be happy to support Mr Mountain’s amendment in the spirit in which it is intended.
I am delighted to hear that. There is potentially a huge benefit. I realise that there might be some nervousness when I mention the issue, given the state of the married quarters, but let us be clear that they are empty at the moment, and my proposal would provide a chance to gain some rent from them and for Scotland to benefit from them.
I will hold up my hands up and say that I tried to raise the issue with the previous UK Government but I got very little traction when I did that. However, I stand by the fact that the issue is worth investigating. All that I am proposing is that the Government looks at the option, so that we can get more veterans to come back to Scotland.
Given the spirit in which the amendment has been lodged, I hope that the Labour Party will support it. Scotland benefits from all the attributes that veterans bring back, most of which will help us in our businesses and everyday life.
16:51
I congratulate the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, retired Lieutenant Colonel Susie Hamilton—sorry, it is of course Lieutenant Commander Susie Hamilton, as she was a naval officer, or a marine, not an army officer—on her excellent progress report and on her work over the past few years in holding the Government and the Parliament to account on their efforts to improve the lives of veterans across the country.
As Edward Mountain said, around 4 per cent of our population are veterans. There is significant regional variation, with Moray top of the league table, given the concentration of Royal Air Force veterans in that community. It is important for us to recognise the significant regional focus. We should also recognise that half of those in the veteran population in Scotland are of working age and that they represent a significant store of value as citizens of this country. They are an immense store of knowledge and national resilience.
I have just returned from the international sea power conference held in London yesterday, at which the First Sea Lord set out, in stark terms the existential risk to the country’s safety that is posed by other state actors, most notably Russia. Given that situation, we need to consider national resilience in a way that we have not done in recent years, and our veterans community offers a significant vanguard group for us in that regard.
We must also consider the mixture of veterans in our community. Technically, I am a veteran, and 22 per cent of our veterans are reservists, so it is not all about regulars. We must also consider those who fought in hot conflict zones but who have not necessarily had the same support as their regular counterparts on returning from those zones. Especially for people around my age, we need to think about how they have dealt with that, the mental health impacts and the longer-term effects that it has had.
It is important to note that Lieutenant Commander Hamilton’s points in the report are all positive—there are no red actions. That is commendable and shows the united front that the Parliament has had in supporting the Government’s efforts in recent years, with this being the ninth debate on the issue, as the minister pointed out.
Lieutenant Commander Hamilton has, however, highlighted a number of key actions. She says that we need
“a more formalised structure to provide strategic leadership and direction in employability, skills and learning.”
That could be led in the public sector to a much greater degree than it is, particularly through organisations such as Social Security Scotland and the national health service, which are among Scotland’s biggest institutional employers. We could see a lot more formal direction and strategic leadership in public sector organisations to demonstrate best practice.
The commissioner recommends that we need
“Stronger oversight and clearer collaboration across public, private and third sector partners ... to drive sustained improvement.”
That is a reasonable recommendation, and I hope that the Government will set out detailed responses on how it intends to make progress on it.
On Mr Mountain’s point about the focus on veteran homelessness and housing, it is important that we recognise the risk there, particularly for veterans. A nomadic lifestyle typifies the service person, and it is important to provide stability for those who move on from service, particularly regular service. His proposal is, therefore, reasonable. We have liaised with UK Government colleagues on that issue and are minded to support the amendment. It is important that we work across Governments to realise that objective.
The Labour UK Government has announced a new UK-wide veteran support system called Valour, which is backed by £50 million of funding, to ensure that veterans have easier access to essential care and support. It is based on best practice, most notably that developed by the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association, and Glasgow’s helping heroes service is an excellent benchmark of excellence. Scotland already has a one-stop-shop casework service at which veterans can present themselves without facing any impediments to receiving tailored support from people who are veterans themselves. We could do with having more of that excellent model in this country. The Valour scheme was established very much in that spirit. It is important to note that £27 million of the funding is going live for local bids, to turbocharge the system and ensure that veterans have easier access to essential care and support through the new support hubs. I hope that the Scottish Government will engage with UK Government counterparts to ensure that we make the most of that funding in Scotland and establish a comprehensive network in this country.
The Scottish Government is very willing to engage on that point. However, along with some of our stakeholders, we have found getting information from the UK Government on the form that the system will take, and some of the deadlines imposed, quite challenging. Will Paul Sweeney bring any influence to bear that he has with his colleagues in London to encourage a more collaborative approach on the issue that would reflect Scottish circumstances?
Please bring your remarks to a close, Mr Sweeney.
In the spirit of collaboration, I am more than happy to work as best as I can to be useful in liaising with UK Government colleagues on that. The recent announcement on defence housing in particular, and how we carry that over as part of our work with the veterans community, is really important. We will continue to work to support the work of the Scottish Veterans Commissioner and the Government, and we will be happy to support the Government’s motion, as amended, today.
16:57
I thank the 176,000 UK armed forces veterans who live in Scotland, and I would also like to mention the one in 30 adults in Shetland who have served in the UK armed forces. To all those veterans, we owe a debt of gratitude, and it is important that their service to the country is recognised and not forgotten. Let me be clear in saying at the outset of my remarks that, when the state fails our veterans in the support that they need, it is a stain on our society.
I thank Susie Hamilton, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, for providing an update in her independent progress report. I note her assessment that the general practice armed forces and veterans recognition scheme continues to have a disappointingly low uptake. Increasing the number of GP practices that participate is essential to achieving equity of access.
NHS Shetland signed the armed forces covenant in 2022, and Brian Chittick, the organisation’s current chief executive and armed forces champion, has previously served.
On housing policy, the commissioner highlights the fact that progress on the veterans homelessness prevention pathway was poor last year, and that a faster pace and greater scale of delivery are required to meet reasonable timescales. She also calls for a more formal structure to provide strategic leadership and clearer collaboration between public, private and third sector partners to achieve long-term improvement.
I want to say a wee bit about veteran entrepreneurship. Veterans bring a depth of experience, discipline and leadership to Scottish businesses that is unmatched in most sectors of civilian life. Our most junior soldiers, sailors, marines and aviators complete a minimum of 13 weeks of intensive, world-class training that equips them to be exceptional employees from day 1. A corporal or equivalent will undergo a further 16 weeks of leadership instruction in unforgiving, high-pressure environments. By the time someone reaches sergeant rank, they will have completed an additional 12-week leadership and management course that qualifies them to manage millions of pounds-worth of equipment, lead teams and run complex operations that, in civilian terms, look remarkably like running a business unit. Those are the people who are entering or returning to our civilian workforce. Their contribution to Scotland’s economy lies not only in the skills that they bring, but in their mindset—they have a distinctive entrepreneurial drive, a habit of solving problems and a determination to get things done.
The Scottish Government does not currently collect data on veteran-owned businesses, but estimates from UK-wide research suggest that there might be about 24,000 veteran-run firms in Scotland. Those businesses generate jobs, innovate across sectors and contribute directly to regional economic growth. In Shetland, we can point to the example of the SaxaVord spaceport as an entrepreneurial vision that has been realised by ex-RAF personnel. Without Scotland-specific data, we cannot fully understand or support that economic engine, so the Scottish Government should look to address that.
My party would like more to be done to help current armed forces families. In England, the service pupil premium, which was introduced by the Liberal Democrats in 2011, recognises that children from armed forces families often face disrupted schooling, frequent moves and periods of parental absence. The policy provides targeted funding to help schools to support those pupils academically and emotionally, but no equivalent system exists in Scotland. Increasingly, service personnel live and work separately from their families, sometimes commuting weekly across the country, which puts enormous strain on support networks and could leave families isolated socially, educationally and emotionally. By not offering a Scottish equivalent to the service pupil premium, we are asking armed forces families to absorb those pressures alone, we risk undermining the wellbeing of children who already face greater instability than most, and we are missing an opportunity to ensure that Scotland remains a welcoming and supportive place for those who serve.
If Scotland values the contribution that veterans make to our economy and the sacrifices that their families make on our behalf, we must match that sentiment with action. That means recognising the unique pressures that armed forces children face and ensuring that our policies do not fall behind those in the rest of the UK when it comes to supporting those who have served and those who still do.
We move to the open debate.
17:02
I like talking about veterans in the chamber, because it is one of the few areas in which there is fairly broad consensus. There is clear agreement among all MSPs that nobody should be worse off for having served in the armed forces. I say this as someone who has never been a minister, so I might need to be corrected, but, when it comes to supporting our veterans, there seems to be a level of co-operation and constructive working between the Scottish and UK Governments that does not always extend to other policy areas.
Over a number of years, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s office has produced a series of insightful and informative reports that have delved into what we can do to better support our veterans in particular areas, including education, skills and learning; making a home; health and wellbeing; community and relationships; the legal and justice systems; and, most recently, financial matters. All the recommendations in those reports are sensible and deliverable, which means that there tends to be agreement that they should be delivered.
It is helpful that, in the commissioner’s progress report, we can see the status of all the recommendations from the reports. The progress report clearly shows that progress has been made and that, for the first time, progress has been recorded against every extant recommendation. That means that we can also see where more work is needed.
A particular area for improvement, which is mentioned twice in the news release covering the report, relates to the GP recognition scheme, take-up of which has been described as “much lower than expected.” The recognition scheme aims to ensure that there is a designated practice lead in every general practice across Scotland, but, as I understand it, the figure currently sits at about 5 per cent. Given that the minister is in the chamber, I would be keen to take an intervention from him so that he can set out what the Government has done to improve uptake and what else can be done.
Jackie Dunbar is absolutely right. I struggle to find the words to describe my view on the fact that only 45 general practices have registered for the scheme and only 186 individuals have successfully completed the course. That is hugely disappointing.
The Government has done quite a bit of work in the past year, but I will not list it all, because the real point is what we do now to resolve the issue. Among other things, we will seek to have the scheme formally accredited so that participants receive professional development points for completing the course. My officials are exploring opportunities to work with Scottish deaneries to incorporate the scheme into GP and secondary care training programmes, so that we ensure that it becomes part and parcel of learning for full-time employment.
Once uptake has increased—I certainly hope that it will—officials will develop a quality improvement report to assess the effectiveness of the training and identify opportunities to enhance support for practice leads and the armed forces community. Fundamentally, this is a matter for our GPs.
Thank you, minister. That was quite a lengthy response, and I am conscious that it is Ms Dunbar who has the floor. You have only 40 seconds left, Ms Dunbar.
I welcome what the minister has just said about the work that is being done on the process. While we are talking about recognition schemes, I point out that, as employers, our individual MSP offices—not us, but our offices—can sign up to the defence employer recognition scheme. My office manager has already done that for my office, and we are at bronze award level. He will email all offices to show them how it can be done.
I reiterate that the majority of veterans will never need support, and that their experience and work ethic mean that they bring a lot to our workplaces and their communities. However, some will need support, and I am pleased that we are agreed across the chamber that we need to get to that place so that Scotland is seen as a destination of choice for those who leave our armed forces.
17:06
I declare an interest: I am a practising NHS GP. I also speak today as a Glasgow MSP who represents a city with a proud service history, with Royal Navy ships built on the Clyde and high-tech military equipment still produced at Thales, and it is home to many veterans and their families.
I begin by putting on the record my deep gratitude to our veterans, serving personnel and their loved ones. We welcome the work that has gone into the veterans strategy action plan, the Scottish veterans fund and the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s progress report. At the outset, I stress that the majority of veterans go on to live quite normal lives and require little or no help, but some require help.
It should be recognised that many charities and third sector organisations, not least Poppyscotland and Legion Scotland, do outstanding work, often stepping in where the state has struggled to keep up. In Glasgow, I have engaged directly with Community Veterans Support and the armed forces charity SSAFA, which are both based in Govan. They are clear that veterans still need more practical help, guidance and support when it comes to healthcare, social services and housing.
Community Veterans Support emphasises the importance of stronger social support to tackle isolation and help people to build a new life in civilian society. Its experience on the ground should shape our policy. My experience as a GP, and what veterans tell us, is that, while the strategy is welcome, delivery is what really matters. If we are serious about the armed forces covenant, the fundamentals of health and social care in Scotland must work for veterans and their families in practice, not just in principle.
Let us look at access to primary care. Scotland simply does not have enough GPs. We have many more registered patients than we had a decade ago, but the number of practices has fallen. Veterans who are trying to register with a practice or to get timely appointments for physical or mental health concerns are often competing in an overstretched system that is already under real pressure.
The member might have noted that the commissioner said that she was disappointed by the slow uptake of the general practice armed forces and veterans recognition scheme. As a practising NHS GP, does he have any personal insights on what might improve uptake?
I was going to intervene on the minister on that. It is a question of making sure that general practitioners have the time to do that. There are a lot of things that we would love to learn and do, but we simply do not have the time, because we are firefighting all the time.
On mental health, the Government is keen to point to the forthcoming veterans mental health and wellbeing pathway. I welcome that work, but colleagues will understand the frustration that, in 2025, we are still talking about the phased launch of a pathway rather than veterans already receiving care through it. There are still too many who are bounced between services, who have to retell their story and fight for assessment and support that should be proactively offered.
Social care is another critical part of the covenant, and the level of delayed discharge remains far too high. We must remember that veterans include older veterans who are stuck on the wards, unable to go home. We can and must do better by them. The Royal British Legion and Poppyscotland’s “Keep the Covenant Promise” campaign reminds us how far we still have to go, highlights the gaps in the covenant duty in areas such as social care, early years support and further and higher education, and calls for the duty to be delivered consistently, properly funded and robustly measured across the UK.
We support the motion, but we say to ministers and other colleagues across the chamber that we should work together to make the covenant real. Let us improve access to primary care, ensuring that mental health pathways are delivered on time and that persistent problems in social care are tackled, so that hospitals are not the default of our older veterans. Our amendment is a practical example of that approach.
The armed forces kept their promise to us, so it is time that we kept our promise to them.
17:10
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.
17:15
Support for veterans and those in the armed forces is important wherever you are in Scotland, but it has a special resonance in my constituency, which includes His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde at Faslane.
The submariners protecting our seas do so knowing that they will miss out on many special moments with loved ones on land, and there are few things more moving than seeing families reunite after many months apart. For some, they have been at sea longer than they expected because of the capacity of the service, which the UK Government is addressing. This summer, I had the privilege of meeting the crew of HMS Vanguard at 10 Downing Street, where they were rightly celebrated for their contribution to keeping our country safe.
The reality is that our seas are already contested. Just yesterday, the UK Labour Government announced its Atlantic bastion programme, which will combine autonomous vessels and artificial intelligence with warships and aircraft to create a highly advanced hybrid force to protect undersea cables and pipelines. That follows an increase in Russian underwater activity, including by the spy ship Yantar, which is apparently mapping our underwater cables. Russia is also believed to have been behind the sabotage of Shetland’s subsea internet cables in 2023.
The first priority of any Government should be keeping its citizens safe, and no Government can do that without its armed forces. The UK Labour Government is investing £250 million in His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, which will reap a defence dividend in my constituency and beyond.
Part of thanking those who serve is showing that we value them when their service is over, which is why it is so important that we deliver for veterans. The UK Labour Government recently published its veterans strategy, backed by £50 million of Government investment, as a number of members have already referred to. That includes delivering the digital veteran card in 2025 to make it easier for veterans to access services, and creating a new network of local support centres to improve access to services such as health, housing and employment.
The Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s report is to be welcomed, as it shows the progress that has been made by the Scottish Government. I congratulate the Government on that, and we are all grateful to Susie Hamilton for her work in that regard. However, as I think we all agree, there is more to be done.
I welcome the minister’s commitment to do more work with GPs to understand why uptake for the general practice armed forces and veterans recognition scheme has been so low and to increase the number of practices that participate in the scheme. I agree with Sandesh Gulhane that we simply need more GPs in order to cope with the capacity that is required.
The minister was right to reference long waiting times and, in particular, the impact on services. I have a constituent who sought a referral to treat a tumour that would affect his ability to work, but the waiting lists in Scotland were simply too long. He wanted a referral to the Dreadnought medical service, which offers treatment to seafarers, but NHS Scotland seemed to be unwilling to fund that. We need to get better at working collaboratively so that people can continue to serve.
The report warns that progress on housing for veterans is still lagging behind where it should be, and the Scottish Government needs to increase the pace if it is to tackle the blight of veteran homelessness.
[Made a request to intervene.]
Jackie Baillie is concluding.
There is merit in Edward Mountain’s amendment, and we will support it today.
At a time when armed forces recruitment is not a luxury but a necessity, I am sure that both Governments will work at pace to continue to support our armed forces and our veterans.
17:19
As others have done, I record the huge debt of gratitude that we owe to our armed forces.
Those who serve want simple things. While they are serving, they want to know that their families are taken care of, that they are provided with good-quality housing, that their children will not lose their place on an NHS waiting list or their support at school due to a relocation, that there is a job opportunity for their partner and that adequate childcare is available at a new posting. After their service concludes, they want to know that their mental and physical health will be taken care of and that support is available to adjust socially.
I was very interested to hear the contribution of the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans, Graeme Dey, in which he highlighted the wait for care for servicemen and women and talked about the outcomes from those delays. I welcome his frustration that GP uptake of the armed forces and veterans recognition scheme is unacceptably low, and I welcome what he is doing to promote that scheme and formally accredit it to improve uptake.
Many of the matters that we are talking about are devolved, which is why I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to the armed forces covenant, although I have to say that I am a little dismayed that there have been no specific meetings at this stage to discuss the expansion of that covenant into social care with health and social care partnerships and councils, according to the reply to a parliamentary question that I asked a few weeks ago. Given the role that adequate social care plays in making sure that people can live their best independent lives, as was highlighted by my colleague Sandesh Gulhane, and the issues of homelessness that my colleague Edward Mountain has raised, there is more to do.
That was an important point about housing, which is critical not just to veterans but to sustaining people in service who might otherwise leave. The record investment of £9 billion in modernising more than 40,000 houses over the next decade could be a massive opportunity for the Scottish Government to engage in supercharging that around Scottish garrisons.
I thank Paul Sweeney for his intervention and for his foresight in knowing what was coming in my speech.
In 2022, statistics from the Ministry of Defence showed that the average age at which people joined the regular armed forces was around 20, and the average age at which they left was around 31. People are choosing to serve between 10 and 20 years but still have many working-age years in which to fulfil their civilian careers if they are appropriately supported.
Edward Mountain focused on housing. He also highlighted the fact that our armed forces have fantastic transferable skills, as was mentioned by Beatrice Wishart. We should encourage veterans into Scotland, but that will require an increase in housing stock, as was mentioned. Armed forces retirees’ access to unused marital quarters was highlighted by Edward Mountain, and I welcome the fact that the minister was warm to that suggestion.
I have spoken before about the need to recognise the mental stress that we should be cognisant of when dealing with our veterans. Obvious issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder have been accepted much more readily, but we need to consider the issue of dealing with a significant change in circumstance.
We often see stress in profound change—in how we define ourselves and how those definitions change. Such changes include retirement, for example. Having worked all our lives and been defined by what we do in our working environment, we walk away with the proverbial carriage clock and a handshake. If I may be so bold, they also include being an international sportsperson one day and an ex-athlete the next. We go from knowing exactly what the day is going to look like, what is expected of us and who we will be working with to being cut loose and having to imagine a different path.
No more acutely will that be felt than by our veterans. One day, they are part of a close-knit team, used to working closely as a unit, having each other’s back and knowing exactly what they will be doing and where they will be walking. The next, they walk through the gates into civvy street, without those tight bonds and frameworks, and where the rules are very different. There will be a period of adaptation, which will never be complete because the majority will still feel most at ease when with their old team.
I am the same with my old team mates. That is why we old athletes still get together as often as possible and why armed forces veterans keep in touch. When we are planning support services for our veterans, that situation needs to be at the forefront of our thoughts, even if we might not all quite understand where they are coming from.
I thank the Scottish Government for bringing the debate to the chamber and allowing us once more to talk about the debt of gratitude that we owe to our armed forces.
I call the minister, Graeme Dey, to respond to the debate.
17:25
I thank members for their contributions to the debate. I will attempt to respond to them as much as possible in the time that I have.
I thank Edward Mountain for lodging his amendment. There is a shortage of available habitable married quarter accommodation in Scotland, and I am more than happy to raise the proposal with MOD ministers in the context of their new defence housing strategy.
I will take away Beatrice Wishart’s ask on the gathering of data on veteran-led businesses. She made an interesting point about that. She also highlighted the long-running issue about the service pupil premium. As she knows, she and I are not necessarily on the same page about that. However, I draw her attention to the work of the Scottish armed forces education support group, which works collaboratively to mitigate and address any issues that affect service children in a way that helps to improve the experience of those children and their families in Scottish schools. In addition, the Government has funded the role of the national education and transitions officer since 2022. Martin Whitfield has highlighted the issue in Parliament a number of times, and we recognise that there are issues that affect young members of serving families, not just in education but in health as well.
Paul Sweeney and others focused on the issue that the commissioner highlighted in her report to do with the need for more formalised approaches in the employment space. I say to him that Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government have done some good work in that space, but, of course, there is more that we can do, and I accept the commissioner’s criticism that there is now a bit of a void there.
Members will possibly remember that a decision was taken in the summer of 2024, after consultation with the veterans employability strategic group, to close that group, because it was not actually delivering in the way that we had hoped it would. At that time, there were two distinct groups—there was that group and one that was run by Veterans Scotland. I recognise that there is now a gap there that needs to be addressed. The Government has before it a report from Veterans Scotland that suggests ways in which we could look to address that, and I am actively looking at that with colleagues in Government, particularly education and skills colleagues.
Sandesh Gulhane criticised the delays in the mental health pathways. I accept that it has taken too long to get to the point that we are currently at. There were reasons for that, but I will not go into them in detail now. However, I hope that, in turn, he will recognise that, in asking for us all to work together, as he did, that must include those who can lead, including his GP colleagues. I do not entirely accept that workload explains the very disappointing uptake of the recognition scheme. Although the Government will do its bit to encourage take-up, I ask Dr Gulhane to encourage his colleagues in the city of Glasgow to engage with the scheme as much as possible, because it is incredibly important.
I was just reflecting on the minister’s intervention on my opening speech about greater collaboration. I note that the funding deadline for the initial tranche of Valour grants is 14 January, with a total of £27 million of funding and grants of up to £1 million being available. Will the minister write to the health and social care partnerships in Scotland to advise them of the scheme and perhaps invite them to apply? It could help with veterans’ GPs.
I am happy to have a conversation on that point with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, who is sitting next to me. However, I explained earlier that there has been a bit of a tension in the way in which the information has flowed or not flowed about the detail of availability, the criteria and the deadline. There is a bit of work to be done between the two Governments—I hope that the UK Government will be receptive to that—to allow our organisations, be they in the public sector or the third sector, to engage in the scheme.
I will, of course, ask every GP to get involved with a scheme as worthy as that one, but does the minister accept that everyone wants GPs to know about their particular issues? That goes for every group that comes into this Parliament. There is a limited amount of time and GPs are under severe pressure. Perhaps we can, working together, give them the time that they need to do things as worthy as that.
The health secretary is doing work in that space, but I would also gently point out that the actual recognition scheme is an aid for GPs to support that cohort of patients.
Alex Rowley referenced the role of armed forces champions in the network, particularly in relation to local authorities. We are putting together a meeting through the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities with the champions network next week. I hope to have the commissioner and a representative of the families federation attending that with me, so that we can explore what more is actually needed by veterans’ families, for example, and what can be done by our local authorities to support veterans and their families.
Jackie Baillie focused on the issue of waiting times for serving personnel, which has become pertinent over the past few months. I could point out to her that this is a UK-wide problem; it is not just in Scotland. That is not to deflect—rather it is to lead on to the point that, to that end, the three Governments are working collaboratively to look at the options that are there to tackle the issue.
Some of the actions that are being considered include developing a national policy for managing waiting list transfers for armed forces personnel across NHS boards and exploring the adaptation of the South Wales fast-track model to support urgent or specialist care for small numbers of MOD patients. The MOD has also proposed the establishment of a UK-wide working group, in collaboration with NHS England and NHS Wales, to facilitate cross-border referral. I can therefore give Jackie Baillie the assurance that there is work going on in that space.
Finally, it will surprise no one to hear me say that resources are tight at the moment for everyone who is working in the veterans’ space, and I do not see that changing overnight. The question therefore becomes, how do we make the most of the resources that we have?
For me, the best answer to that is through even greater collaboration. The progress that we have made has been possible only through effective teamworking with dedicated partners from the public, private and third sectors. The Government will do all that it can to ensure that that continues, not least with the roll-out of the veterans’ mental health pathway and the progression of the veterans’ homelessness prevention pathway, neither of which can be achieved without collaboration.
I again thank members for their contributions and reiterate the importance of this Parliament having the opportunity to scrutinise our support for veterans, their families and the entire armed forces community in Scotland.
I will make one final point to close what will be my last such debate as veterans minister. Throughout my tenure in this Parliament, these debates have overwhelmingly been free of party politicking, reflecting our shared commitment to doing the very best by our serving and veterans’ communities and their families. It is my hope that that approach and level of commitment will also come to characterise the next session and beyond.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am embarrassed to tread on what the minister has just said, but I tried to get his attention earlier to make a declaration of interest that I am a veteran. I should have done that before I made my speech, so I apologise for doing it now, but I failed to do it earlier.
Thank you, Mr Mountain. Your comments are on the record.
That concludes the debate on support for the veterans and armed forces community in Scotland.