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Veterans Issues
Reaching Veterans in Prison
It is important that those veterans who sadly find themselves in prison are
aware of the advice and support available to them as ex-Service personnel
and the arrangements being made to better reach them. Prison In-Reach (PIR)
is an initiative that aims to ensure all veterans that are prison or probation
offenders, their families and resettlement services are fully informed of
the forms and levels of support available to them whether from the SPVA or
the ex-Service charities. This includes the help they can get before as well
as after release. The work of Prison In-Reach is designed to contribute to
the wider Government goals of reducing the risk of re-offending.
PIR has ensured that the SPVA’s Veterans UK website is now available
to prison staff via its computer systems. Prison and probation staffs should
now be better informed on the work of the SPVA (incuding the help it provides
to all veterans on pensions, compensation, access to Service records, medical
entitlements, welfare advice/support etc) as well as the role of the many
other service providers. These staffs should also be able to share more details,
as appropriate, with ex-Service offenders.
The Royal British Legion, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Families Association-Forces
Help and the mental health charity Combat Stress all provide welfare visits
to veterans in prison and their families. These visits do not count against
an offenders personal visit allowance. It can be important that offenders,
especially those close to their release date, have access to such visits
if they need them so that they can be helped through that often difficult
but crucial period either side of release.
To continue to improve the ways we reach veterans in prison, MOD leads a
working group that brings together Government (including the Ministry of
Justice’s National Offender Management Service - NOMS,), the Prison
Services and organisations from the voluntary sector. It is a non-executive
body that helps ensure we build a partnership approach to all our in-reach
activities. One aim of the group is to better survey the prison population
to find out more about the veterans among them. This should help us better
focus our efforts.
If you know any veterans in prison or their families, please draw the work
of Prison in-Reach (PIR) to their attention and the main sources of advice
and support described above. The more veterans in prison that are aware of
the advice and support on offer, the more we should be able to help.
