I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 464 on 21 May 2026

This Government remains dedicated in recognising our veterans for their service and is fully committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the care and support they need.

In England, NHS England provides Op COURAGE, which delivers a broad range of specialist mental health wellbeing care and support for service leavers, reservists, and veterans. Op RESTORE provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their service. Separate provision is available for veterans living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Earlier this year we launched VALOUR, a new national programme designed to make it easier for veterans across the UK to access support when it is needed. The £27 million VALOUR development funding programme will deliver VALOUR Recognised Centres across the country, which will help cohere service provision and ensure that veterans can meet and discuss their issues with others who understand their unique experiences, within their communities, to further enhance their wellbeing.

As well as being able to access all national health services across the United Kingdom, NHS England has also introduced several bespoke services to improve healthcare support available to veterans. These are: Op RESTORE which supports veterans with service-related physical health problems; Op COURAGE which supports veterans with a mental health pathway; and Op NOVA which supports veterans in the justice system.

In addition, the veteran-aware trust and the veteran-friendly accreditation schemes raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals of the specific needs of veterans. These schemes provide support to ensure appropriate signposting and referrals to relevant veteran and wider services within the National Health Service.

In May 2025, a national training and education plan was announced to help veterans benefit from improved and targeted healthcare. NHS staff across England will receive dedicated training to help them identify and support patients with military backgrounds. This will be rolled out across the NHS from 1 October 2025.

Britain’s rich history and our links with Commonwealth countries mean our Armed Forces have always benefitted from the dedication of personnel from diverse backgrounds and faiths. Whether they be Christian or Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, Jewish or Buddhist, of any other faith or indeed not of any faith, it is the contribution, dedication, personal sacrifice and bravery of diverse individuals which keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad. We recognise that faith plays an important part in the lives of many veterans.

This is reflected in the participation of representatives of a diverse range of faiths in the national act of Remembrance. The National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, provides a reflective space for people from all walks of life to celebrate lives lived and commemorate lives lost. Among the almost 400 memorials at the Arboretum are tributes to Sikh soldiers who served during the First World War, members of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, and those who work in the Royal Army Chaplains Department. In recent years there have been many expressions of interest from many diverse groups and communities interested in sponsoring a memorial at the site, including people wishing to recognise the contribution of Armed Forces personnel from the Caribbean and those of Muslim faith.

Another example of support for faith groups is how the Government is exploring plans to deliver a Muslim War Memorial and recently ran a market engagement exercise to inform our thinking on delivery options.

Muslim soldiers are among the many people who fought incredibly bravely throughout the World Wars alongside the British Army and Allied Forces and it is right that they’re respected and remembered for their vital contribution to our country.

On 18 December 2024, the government brought into force regulations to exempt all former members of the regular armed forces from local connection and residency tests to facilitate their access to social housing. The regulations removed the five-year limit and will ensure that no veterans of the regular armed forces will need to meet a local connection test for social housing regardless of when they last served.

As announced at the Budget, £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England in the financial year 2025 to 2026 through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, to support them to deliver services to tackle and prevent homelessness. This includes an uplift of £192.9 million compared to 2024 to 2025. This funding can be used to tackle veteran homelessness. London Borough of Havering is receiving a total of £4,556,948 over 2025-26. All Homelessness Prevention Grant allocations for 2025-26 can be found here.

On 8 November 2024 the government also committed a further £3.5 million to the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme from March 2025, including Op FORTITUDE, the homelessness pathway for homeless veterans, including those rough sleeping. This is in addition to £8.55 million of funding made available to support veterans into housing over 2023-25.

The government’s new Hong Kong Veterans Settlement route will be open to all servicemen and women who served in the British military prior to July 1st 1997, and their family members, including a partner or spouse and dependent children. Applications for Settlement are expected to open this Autumn.

Home Office officials work closely with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Levelling Up Health and Communities, as well as other government departments, to ensure that the UK is a safe and welcoming place for both those who hold BN(O) status and other Hongkongers.

The government’s new Hong Kong Veterans Settlement route will be open to all servicemen and women who served in the British military prior to July 1st 1997, and their family members, including a partner or spouse and dependent children. Applications for Settlement are expected to open this Autumn.

Home Office officials work closely with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Levelling Up Health and Communities, as well as other government departments, to ensure that the UK is a safe and welcoming place for both those who hold BN(O) status and other Hongkongers.

The Government will implement a policy to ensure Hong Kong military service veterans and their families are treated in a similar way to other non-UK service personnel who were based in Hong Kong prior to the handover. This will happen once collective agreement on this policy has been reached with Government departments written to on this proposal.

Our veterans' contribution to the Armed Forces, and to society at large, is of enormous value and deserves the recognition it is given. Veterans of the Falklands conflict have rightly earned, and deserve, the support not just of this Government, but the country as a whole.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working closely with partners to ensure that commemorative events for veterans and the bereaved are supported in the most appropriate way, both across the United Kingdom and in the Falkland Islands.

The MOD is supporting a Royal British Legion Falklands 40th anniversary event at the National Memorial Arboretum on 14 June 2022. The event will be for veterans, civilian enablers to the deployment, families of the bereaved, and VIPs, though members of the public will be welcome. The all-day event will come together with a service of remembrance followed by a reception.

The Government is totally committed to championing our veterans, and ensuring they have the support they need to thrive in civilian life. We recently launched a new Veterans' Strategy Action Plan, which sets out our commitments to the veteran community.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession, a commemorative medal, the Platinum Jubilee Medal, will be awarded to those serving in the Armed Forces and certain other public services on 6th February 2022, and who have completed the required five years’ service. This approach is consistent with that taken for the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

We want all children to leave school with the knowledge, skills and values that will prepare them to be active citizens in modern Britain.

Teaching about the British constitutional system, political issues, different viewpoints and the way in which pupils can engage in our democratic society form an essential part of a broad and balanced curriculum, and are covered within citizenship education. Citizenship education is mandatory in secondary maintained schools as part of the national curriculum. Primary maintained schools and all academies are encouraged to cover citizenship as part of their duty to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.

In citizenship, pupils will learn about the role of Parliament and how citizens can take part in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond. They will also learn about the role of police, courts and justice, free press, human rights and international law, as well as the governments of other countries.

Whilst we do not direct schools to teach about British veterans and the Armed Forces Covenant, schools are free to do so in the context of their citizenship curriculum. Teachers are also able to teach about Britain’s constitutional system, British veterans and the armed forces within other subjects. For instance, the history curriculum can cover political and social movements past and present, as can other subjects such as English when the context is right.

We are supporting The Royal College of General Practitioners’ accreditation programme, to increase the accessibility to veteran specialist care in general practitioner (GP) practices. To date, there are over 1,000 veteran friendly accredited GP practices.

The Government has put in place initiatives to help with better identification of veterans through the healthcare system. An additional £94 million has been released by the Ministry of Defence for Project CORTISONE to provide the digital interface between Defence Medical Services and the National Health Service, ensuring safe and smooth transition of medical records.

The Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance seeks to improve the care the armed forces community receive from the NHS. Funding has recently been secured to appoint full-time regional leads for the seven regions and the Alliance has now accredited over 101 NHS trusts. On 19 January, the Government launched the veteran’s strategy action plan. This includes a commitment of an additional £18 million over the next three years for veteran’s health services such as Op COURAGE.

We have successfully piloted the Great Place to Work scheme across six government Departments and have commenced the roll out of this initiative across Departments for all Civil Service roles, including Senior Civil Servant positions by the end of March 2022. During the pilot phase, the scheme received 3,000 applications, made 155 appointments to roles and saw 180 successful applicants placed on a reserve list.

The new Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan outlines over 60 commitments funded by over £70 million from departments across Government, including initiatives to make sure veterans are able to find quality employment after leaving service.

These commitments build on recent progress and support to encourage employers to recruit veterans, such as the National Insurance contribution holiday for employers of Service leavers and the Defence Employer Recognition scheme. We have committed to promoting pathways into careers in public service for veterans, such as teaching and in the uniformed and health services and introduced a fast-track recruitment scheme for veterans wishing to become prison officers.

The Veterans’ ID card provides both a memento of service and allows statutory and charity service providers to more easily identify an individual as someone who has served. Phase one of the Veterans’ ID card is complete, with Service leavers now receiving a card as part of the discharge process. Phase two will enable existing veterans to more quickly, easily, and securely prove they served in the UK Armed Forces so they can access the services they need, through digital means. Future-proofing and safeguarding against fraudulent use means the process for phase two rollout will take longer than anticipated. This Government is committed to making the UK the best place to be a veteran in the world, and we need to ensure that this is not abused.

The Ministry of Defence, including Veterans UK, is working with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs within the Cabinet Office to develop ideas on how to build an online digital verification tool so that people can prove they served; this is a commitment in the Strategy for Our Veterans. We are beginning to move this work forward but are unable to announce a delivery date at this point.

Information on phase two of the Veterans’ ID card will be released closer to the launch date at the following website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-veterans-id-cards-rolled-out-to-service-leavers

Veterans UK's Veterans Welfare Service and Defence Transition Services provide the same level of support to Foreign and Commonwealth veterans as they do to any other veteran. They provide relevant advice, information and support, assisting veterans to access the appropriate range of services to meet their individual needs and requirements. This support continues for as long as required as part of our commitment to providing 'through-life support' to veterans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2020 to Question 13448 to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas).

Under the British Nationality Selection Scheme introduced in 1990, a limited number of Hong Kong Military Service Corps personnel who were settled in Hong Kong could apply to register as a British citizen. The Scheme ran until 1 July 1997.

The Home Secretary has met with Andrew Rosindell MP and a delegation of former Hong Kong Military Service Corps (HKMSC) personnel and listened to their representations. This is a complex matter to which we are giving careful consideration.

This Government are committed to ensuring that armed services personnel do not become homeless or end up rough sleeping. We have recently allocated an additional

£1 million to support ex-members of the armed forces who are, or are at risk of becoming, homeless. That additional funding goes hand in hand with the £1.2 billion that has been set aside to tackle all forms of homelessness.