I thank the Member for his comments. First of all, on the funding issue, as I indicated earlier, there is £585,000 to the NHS veterans programme. I listened to the Member very carefully about the increase he’s suggesting and that others have suggested. I will look at that with other colleagues across the Cabinet to see whether there is a better way of delivering services or the complexity of doing this. I’m not saying that this is perfect by any means, but I do believe that, in Wales, we are able to articulate a better level of service across Wales, and I hope that some of the pinch points that we are seeing we can resolve collectively together. I know the Member is very aware of the expert group that exists within Wales and welcomes that, and it’s something that I will ask them to look at specifically in terms of service provision.

The Member makes reference to the veterans’ sheds. The men’s shed that I visited was actually full of ex-service personnel, so it wasn’t specifically named a veterans’ shed, but, actually, the men’s shed I visited was supported predominantly by vets, and there was a great community spirit in that building despite some of the challenges that individuals were fighting. Indeed, one of the more interesting points was the integration of veterans with other persons within the community with some mental health issues as well also accessing services. It’s just a different way of social integration and confidence building, which leads me on to the cadet forces issue and I also pay tribute to the massive amount of work that the volunteers in our cadet services and territorial services provide across the UK, and particularly in Wales. It’s not always about the principle of what the cadet service stands for, but actually it creates a more holistic person and a community resilience that we don’t see outside of these organisations. They give people worth and an opportunity to share that with the local community too. So, it is something that I’m very supportive of, but I would just air a slight bit of caution around cadet forces, particularly in schools, and making sure that access, particularly to the educational value and support of services within schools, has to be carefully balanced on pathways for employment at a later point in time.

It has been alleged that some of the armed forces target particular areas because they are easier to attract people in certain towns and villages, because of the academic evidence surrounding those areas. I think the armed forces, if they’re looking at recruiting, should be open and transparent about all communities across the UK. It’s something that I’ve had conversations about in the past with military forces, and it’s something that we have to be very careful of and not targeting specific groups as opposed to others.