Veterans policy
Joining up veterans support across Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland
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The government in Whitehall continues to develop and build contacts in the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help ensure that together a better service is offered to ex-Service personnel.
The health and wellbeing of veterans is a major concern and given the nature of devolved responsibilities it is crucial that the UK Government and the devolved administrations work closely together. Meetings between Derek Twigg, UK Minister for Veterans, and his ministerial colleagues from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland began last December. Discussions with Stewart Maxwell MSP and Edwina Hart AM brought healthcare and support to the top of the agenda. Minister will complete this round of meetings in early 2008 when he brings a range of Whitehall and devolved administration Ministers together. A key aim of these meetings is to strengthen the partnership and thus improve the service for all veterans wherever they might be in the UK. |
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The Ministry of Defence (MOD) also meets, on a regular basis, a range of officials in the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government who have responsibility for veterans’ issues.
How devolution works
Overall, devolution involves some powers that are retained by the UK Parliament and Government (e.g. defence) and others that are devolved to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (e.g. health, housing and social services).
How powers are devolved is different for each in terms of the role of their parliaments or assemblies and their governments. Stewart Maxwell, the Minister for Communities and Sport in the Scottish Government and Edwina Hart, Health Minister & Social Services in the Welsh Assembly Government have a ministerial role for veterans in Scotland and Wales respectively. |
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What’s next on the Agenda?
Work plans are now being developed for Scotland and Wales to capture the current work in progress for supporting veterans and to identify future priorities. This will include plans for Wales and Scotland to each run one of the mental health pilots which are being established across the UK to trial a better service to veterans with mental health needs. (see page 4 for more details)
The MOD also hopes to develop a similar relationship with colleagues in Northern Ireland with the restoration of devolution that has taken place in 2007. |
Top of page |
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SAME SERVICE,
DIFFERENT NAME
VETERANS AID is the new name for an
ex-Service charity that is 75 years old
VETERANS AID -
(formerly The Ex-Services Fellowship Centres (EFC))
- is a small ex-Service charity with its head office – a veterans’ initial point of contact – near Victoria Station and 57-room hostel, based in Stepney. The Charity’s mission is to “care for homeless veterans…now”, which means that any street homeless ex-Serviceman or woman calling in for help that day will have a bed and a roof over their head that same night for however long – weeks, months, slightly more sometimes - it takes to regain their self-esteem, find a job and permanent accommodation. |
| A key aim is to help prevent veterans – aged between 19 to 75 - becoming homeless in the first place. |
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However, the majority of their work concerns those who are actually already on the street, destitute, and in a lot of cases dealing with alcohol and/or substance dependence, mental health disorders or just thoroughly depressed and broke. |
For more information
call 0207 828 2468
or visit http://www.veterans-aid.net
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