UK Parliament / Open data

Veterans Strategy

Proceeding contribution from Tobias Ellwood (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 15 November 2018. It occurred during Debate on Veterans Strategy.

My hon. Friend is right. It should be the mindset, the modus operandi, of any local authority. It should be very clear who the armed forces champion is—it should be on the local authority website so that people know who to go to.

Many types of support are available for veterans. A veteran may be in a very dark place when they seek support, and the last thing we need is a confusing picture

as to where that support can be found. Charities have been mentioned, as have local authorities and national government. Each plays a role, and we have established the veterans gateway to provide a single portal where any individual can make a phone call or go online to seek the necessary help to guide them to where they need to go.

Again, this is in its infancy. We have 400 service-facing charities, not all of which are signed up to the gateway. We want them all to sign up. The big ones have signed up, but they are also running their own call centres. Either way, we need this to work. We need this to be the vehicle, the single portal, for any veteran who requires help. When I refer to help, it is not necessarily physical support—it might be help in looking for more employment or in setting up their own initiative—but this is where they need to go.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
649 cc465-501 
Session
2017-19
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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