GovWire

On 2 March 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA) jointly commissioned an Independent Review of UK Government welfare services for veterans. The review investigated the role, scope and breadth of UK Government welfare provision for veterans, including by the MOD under the Veterans UK banner.

The review encompassed the MODs Veterans Welfare Service, Defence Transition Services, Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans, the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees and the Ilford Park Polish Home; as well as the Northern Ireland Veterans Support Office, and the governments role in the Veterans Gateway.

The review was led by a Senior Civil Servant, with the Independent Veterans Advisor and other key stakeholders providing advice. This is the first time these elements of support to our veterans had been considered in the round since the launch of the Strategy for our veterans and corresponding Veterans Strategy Action Plan, and the creation of the OVA. The government is grateful to the review team for the considerable amount of work engagement throughout.

As set out in this response, the government accepts the principle and intended outcome of all of the recommendations in the review, and there are already several recommendations which government is actively taking forward. These include:

• the retirement of the Veterans UK brand name in 2024
• transforming the way MOD welfare services are delivered to ensure a consistent level of service to those accessing support
• the removal of Veterans from the Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families title, to avoid confusion and clarify that the Minister for Veterans Affairs in Cabinet Office holds primacy for coordinating veterans policy across government

MOD will continue administering armed forces pensions and compensation, transition support and welfare support for those with service-related issues.

OVA is working to improve Veterans Gateway content and exploring how it can best direct users to the information and support they need.

We know that veterans and supporting organisations want to see real change taken to enhance and rationalise welfare services for our Armed Forces Community, and that is what we intend to do in response to this review.

The response sets out the governments commitment and high-level plans to meet the intended outcome of the recommendations. Further detail will be made available in due course as we make progress.