Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, Mark Isherwood AM, has called on the Welsh Government to act on concerns regarding its Housing Referral Pathway for Veterans.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter in the Assembly Chamber yesterday when questioning the Minister for Communities and Local Government, who is the Welsh Government lead on policy in relation to the Armed Forces and Veterans in Wales, over a number of issues relating to Veterans.
Speaking in the Chamber he said:
“In February, the UK Defence Secretary announced that service leavers and their families will now be able to access military accommodation for up to a year after leaving, giving them more time to look for permanent accommodation as they transition back to civilian life, where housing is clearly key to armed forces veterans and their families.
“We know that, in Wales, First Choice Housing Association and ‘Alabare’ Wales Homes for Veterans have led on housing for ex-forces personnel and their families, but how do you respond to concern that the Welsh Government’s Housing Referral Pathway for Veterans doesn’t address the concerns over how housing officers can provide the necessary support to manage the complex cases of re-homed veterans, with better integration of housing, health and care services?”
In her response the Minister told Mr Isherwood, “We have a pathway specifically for people coming out of the armed forces. I'm very keen to make sure that that works and to have better involvement with armed forces personnel in the year leading up to their leaving the armed forces. So, I'd very much welcome better involvement in that specific process for my officials. I'm very happy to work with the Member if he wants to put me in touch with anyone who's got concerns in that area to make sure the pathway is correct.”
In addition to the housing matter, Mr Isherwood also asked the Minister to respond to concerns highlighted by a Conwy veteran regarding support services for veterans and referred to the first National Welsh Veterans Awards, celebrating and rewarding armed forces veterans or ex-forces personnel that have made the transition to civilian life and have gone above and beyond and excelled in their relevant fields, which will take place in Swansea on 26 June. Mr. Isherwood hosted February’s launch of these awards.
He added:
“You may have heard of Project360 - a partnership between Age Cymru, the veterans charity Woody's Lodge, and Age Alliance Wales - providing a welcoming space for armed service veterans, recent leavers and reservists, funded by the UK Chancellor's Aged Veterans Fund, supporting older veterans across Wales.
“I recently received correspondence from Age Cymru regarding a Conwy carer talking about the extra challenges she faces caring for her veteran husband with vascular dementia. She said that while he visits social groups for veterans, such as Woody's Lodge in Colwyn Bay, where he feels comfortable enough to chat with fellow visitors about their time in the service, they've also attended non-veteran support groups, which don't meet his needs. Although he enjoyed the exercise classes, he didn't want to chat to anyone there that he felt he had nothing in common with.
“She said, 'I would love to see more veteran-based activities as they offer such person-focused support.' And Project360 suspects there may thousands of people like this in Wales, with full-time carers striving to meet the needs of their loved ones with chronic conditions and the added complication of being a veteran who struggles to interact with ‘civvy street’. How do you propose to address that concern as you look ahead with your colleagues in related departments?”
The Minister told Mr Isherwood that the Deputy Minister “is launching the report (the Welsh Government’s Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report for Wales) at Woody's Lodge to see first-hand what can be done as part of making sure that veterans do receive the sorts of services that will allow them to have the kind of experiences that Mark Isherwood has just set out in his answer.”
She added: I'm very happy to get the Deputy Minister to write to the Member with any details of any other projects that she's been looking at recently, and if he wants to supply to me the individual details of the constituent that he mentions, I'd be more than happy to look into that as well.”
