First Minister quizzed on plans to tackle veteran homelessness ahead of Remembrance Day

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More than 2,000 military veterans in Wales fall into the covert category of homelessness, a Senedd Member has claimed during First Minister’s Questions.

On Tuesday November 10, Casnewydd Islwyn MS Art Wright asked Rhun ap Iorwerth what action the Welsh Government was taking to tackle homelessness among veterans.

Appearing to extrapolate Wales-specific figures from the UK-wide 2022 Veterans’ Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics, and applying them to Wales, Reform UK’s Mr Wright said: “Of the 93,000 armed forces veterans living in Wales, 280 of them are sleeping rough, and over 2,000 more fall into the covert category of homelessness, sofa surfing, or living with a family.”

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Mr Wright, who served in the British Army Royal Logistic Corps from 1994 to 2013, told members of a female veteran who had to share a bed with her mother for eight years.

He also highlighted the experience of a disabled veteran with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, who has been “languishing” in a bedroom of a house of multiple occupation in squalid conditions. He has been on the housing list for six years.

He asked what the First Minister would do to “restore credibility” in the armed forces covenant – a national promise to those who serve, or have served, in the armed forces to be treated with respect and fairness.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar drew attention to an announcement made last week by the UK Government on ending homelessness for those who served in the armed forces.

He said: “They’ve made money available to local authorities in England in order to help them to facilitate and implement that pledge, and yet at a time when we’ve got asylum seekers being put up in hotels, we still have veteran homelessness here on our streets in Wales.”

Any funding directed to English councils generates consequential funding for the Welsh Government, giving Cardiff Bay ministers the discretion to decide where that money is spent.

Criticising the Tory leader’s language, Mr ap Iorwerth said: “Homelessness among veterans is something quite simply – not in the context of culture wars or anything else – that we should be taking very, very seriously.”

He also reiterated his commitment to the armed forces covenant.

Referencing the debt owed to veterans, Mr ap Iorwerth said tackling homelessness must be “top of that agenda”.

He reiterated his support for the announcement made by the UK Government, adding: “We need to build on those funding models and make sure that that money does get down to Welsh Government, so that we can invest.”

Sharing his experience of visiting troops in Afghanistan, Plaid Cymru MS Lindsay Whittle said the expectation on veterans to adjust to life after serving was “simply not good enough”.

Mr Whittle described it as a “scandal” that any person who serves in the armed forces should “even be at risk of homelessness”.

The Blaenau Gwent Caerffilli Rhymni MS also suggested the majority of support should come from the UK Government.

He said: “The decision to send our troops to war and into harm’s way rests solely with the Westminster Government, and I believe it is fair that the bulk of support should come from the Westminster Government.”

Mr Whittle pressed the First Minister to have discussions with both the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence to request further support from their budgets for Wales.

Agreeing that the UK Government must support those who’ve served, Mr ap Iorwerth stressed that Wales’ takes its responsibilities in supporting veterans seriously.

He added: “Where … our armed forces community need support as a consequence of their service, it is right that this is available. We’ll continue to make that case strongly to UK ministers.”

A report on veteran homelessness in Wales was commissioned by the UK Government’s Office for Veterans’ Affairs and published by the charity Alabaré last month.

While it acknowledges the 2022 UK survey is not fully representative, “the precise scale and nature of veteran homelessness in Wales is not yet fully understood”.

The report estimated just 51 dedicated veteran-specific temporary supported accommodation bed spaces exist in Wales, 39 provided by Alabaré and a further 12 by The Salvation Army in Wrexham.

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