Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world and all local authorities have a legal duty to provide support to anyone at risk of homelessness, including veterans.

Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place is the best and most effective way to end homelessness. That is why, we commissioned the Veterans Scotland Housing Group to develop specific strategies to prevent homelessness for veterans. Their report was published in January 2022. We have accepted the 24 recommendations in principle and are engaging with partners on next steps.

Additionally, we continue to support the charity Housing Options Scotland to provide its Military Matters project, helping veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces to find the right home in the right place. The Scottish Government website also hosts a guide containing housing in Scotland information and contacts of organisations who may be able to help veterans obtain housing suitable for their needs.

The Scottish Government provided £3,000 in 2020-21 to Legion Scotland to deliver Befriending and Mental Health First Aid training to individuals from the veterans community, including breakfast club volunteers. These sessions were initially delayed due to the pandemic. However, Legion Scotland successfully delivered the Mental Health First Aid training in March 2022. The planned Befriending courses were cancelled due to lockdown and the funding initially allocated was refunded to Legion Scotland and re-purposed to support the delivery of the MHFA training. In total, 28 people attended the courses including several admin staff from multiple breakfast clubs.

The Scottish Government has been pursuing a number of analytical projects in relation to veterans within the justice system and we will continue to consider how evidence on this cohort can be improved going forward.

We have also identified sources of regular data collection where a marker can be added to improve the evidence we hold on veterans. For example, we have included the question on former service in the UK Armed Forces from Scotland’s 2022 Census into the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Household Survey. The SCJS asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime, in addition to a range of issues related to crime, policing and the justice system. The first results are expected in mid-late 2023.

We have also improved the utility of the Official Statistics on Scotland’s prison population, through introducing an interactive analysis tool in 2022 which provides a number of options for analysis of prisoner characteristics – including on a veteran marker (derived from prisoners self-declaring on arrival). Furthermore, we have utilised the findings from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Prisoner Survey for self-declared veterans, which includes questions on views and experiences of prison, services and support and are engaging with SPS about their ongoing redevelopment of the prisoner survey.

We have worked with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), and the other devolved administrations to develop and promote the first UK-wide Veterans’ Survey. This online survey is collecting information from veterans of the UK Armed Forces to help us understand their experiences and circumstances, including questions on interactions with the justice system and awareness and use of support services. It is also being made available to all veterans in prison to ensure the views and experiences of this cohort are captured. The first findings are expected by summer 2023.

Finally, we remain in contact with stakeholders, including the SPS, academics, the third sector and colleagues in England and Wales (such as Ministry of Justice, Office for Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Defence) to keep abreast of research developments and emerging evidence on veterans and the justice system.

The ‘Welcome to Scotland’ guide was first introduced in 2018 to provide practical information to Service personnel and their families who are moving to or already living in Scotland, on topics such as housing, education, healthcare and employment. It is not specifically targeted at veterans or their families but it is promoted to the veterans community through the Veterans Scotland newsletter.

The guide is refreshed annually and we work with the military in Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces Families Federations to develop and promote its use.

The criteria for the Scottish Veterans Fund are published on the Scottish Government website. The criteria for the 2023/24 fund can be found at the following link: Apply to the Scottish Veterans Fund - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Bids for the Scottish Veterans Fund are assessed by an independent panel, chaired by the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, which recommends which projects should receive funding.

We have published a housing guide which provides information about housing in Scotland and contacts of organisations who may be able to help Armed Forces and ex-service personnel obtain housing suitable for their needs. The guide also directs veterans to the Veterans Gateway which provides information on support to veterans and their families including housing and independent living.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all armed forces personnel serving and veterans living in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, including safe, effective and person-centred healthcare. Our policy states that all veterans should not face disadvantage for treatment for health problems as a result of service to their country. We regularly communicate this policy to all NHS Boards via Champions for Armed Forces and Veterans who are responsible for ensuring the implementation of this policy in every NHS Board.

It is the Scottish Government’s continuing aim to ensure that the long-term clinical needs of serving personnel and veterans are better understood and supported within the NHS. We work with key partners including the Ministry of Defence and other UK Governments to assist us with this.

The Armed Forces Personnel & Veterans Health Joint Group (“the Joint Group”), brings together NHS Champions, representatives of the serving community, veterans' organizations, Scottish Government officials and other stakeholders harnessing a range of expertise. The Joint Group works together on priority areas to drive progress in meeting the health needs of Armed Forces personnel and veterans.

Scottish Government works with the Scottish Veterans Commissioner. This work helps us to deliver what is important to individuals and their families, and to foster continuous improvement. Annual progress against the Commissioner recommendations can be found here SVC Annual Progress Report: Findings | (scottishveteranscommissioner.org)

The Scottish Government’s continued support for the Armed Forces and Veterans Community in Scotland is set out in The Strategy for Our Veterans - taking the strategy forward in Scotland: refreshed action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Veterans’ specific welfare support is supported by UK Government policy and delivered by Veterans UK and the Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) , part of Ministry of Defence (MOD). The UK-wide service works with local authorities, voluntary organisations, service charities and the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees .

Within devolved areas of responsibility including provision of welfare advice and delivery of the Scottish Government benefits, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring access to benefits and advice to support veterans and other seldom heard groups. The Scottish Government’s Benefit Take-up Stakeholder Reference Group works with a range of specific seldom-heard groups, including veterans’ groups, to better understand and address non-take-up among particular populations and to maximise incomes. Our Benefit Take-up Strategy outlines our approach to inclusive communications and marketing campaigns. Our Strategy prioritises a person-centred approach and we are committed to inclusive communication standards and supporting seldom-heard groups, whose needs are often complex and require bespoke forms of engagement. Our communications and marketing campaigns are developed in a mindful way which aims to reach as many people as possible and considers those who may not access the most common channels of communication or those who have particular communication requirements.

The Scottish Government has designed the application guidance for Scottish Government benefits to provide comprehensive information on entitlement. Similarly, signposting is included to refer clients to the relevant agencies for reserved benefits where appropriate. Clients may be directed to Veterans UK for further advice. We have also worked with Veterans UK to develop an information sharing process between the organisation and Social Security Scotland. This is intended to ensure that veterans can efficiently access the support to which they are entitled.

The Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) funds Community Link Workers (CLWs) as part of primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs). At March 2022, 249 WTE CLWs had been recruited to support GP practices.

The Scottish Government published information on the number of CLWs recruited broken down by Integration Authority on 21 June 2022 as shown in the table below. Further information, including the location, by Integration Authority, of CLWs by both headcount and whole time equivalent, since 2018, can be accessed at: Supporting documents - Primary care improvement plans: summary of implementation progress - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government continues to support the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership’s (SCQFP) veterans qualifications and skills mapping tool, which went live in February 2022. The Scottish Government provided £13,500 of funding in 2022-23, and £35,000 in 2021-22, to support the ongoing development of the tool.

This tool is particularly important in Scotland as Armed Forces qualifications are routinely only accredited to the Regulated Qualifications Framework used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will also launch this year a campaign working with the business community to help employers understand the benefits that veterans bring to the workforce, to help increase employment opportunities for veterans.