The next item on the agenda is the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children on marking Remembrance Day and supporting our armed forces community. I call on the Cabinet Secretary to make his statement—Carl Sargeant.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. This time of year particularly reminds us of all those who have fought in conflicts to preserve the way of life we have today. This year we have commemorated some of the biggest battles of the first world war. We remember those who lost their lives at Jutland and during the battle of the Somme, especially in Mametz Wood. Thousands of Welsh servicemen made the ultimate sacrifice. Next year will mark the centenary of the battle of Passchendaele, one of the key battles of the first world war, which cost the lives of 70,000 British soldiers, many from Wales, including the poet Hedd Wyn.

We must not forget those who courageously gave their lives to protect the freedom we have today, and we will continue to commemorate them. I’m sure you will all be aware of the stunning Weeping Window of poppies at the Tower of London. This remarkable work of art will be on display at Caernarfon castle—the first venue in Wales to host the display—until 20 November. I encourage you all to visit it. Through the Cymru’n Cofio—Wales Remembers programme we will continue to mark significant first world war events.

The Welsh Government will continue to support Armed Forces Days in Wales. They give the people of Wales the opportunity to show their appreciation and gratitude to those currently serving and to ex-service personnel. Through our programme for government we remain committed to providing ongoing support and services to our present armed forces community. Since my last statement, in June, we have driven forward the armed forces agenda. I would like to update you on a number of initiatives we have created.

We have refreshed our package of support and have produced a separate guide for serving personnel and their families, called ‘Welcome to Wales’. Together, these documents set out the support available in Wales for both serving and ex-service personnel and their families. They were launched at our covenant conference in September, and were well received by our partners.

I’m committed to supporting vulnerable young adults, too. Welsh Government has provided £50,000 to the 160 Infantry Brigade and HQ Wales towards delivery of their armed forces employability pathway. This is aimed at giving young men and women an insight into the army, together with the civilian work-based vocational training to enable them to build their skills and confidence and gain qualifications and secure employment and apprenticeships. Llywydd, a good example of the pathway’s success is the story of a homeless young man from Merthyr, who often had to forage for food and sleep rough. This programme has helped him turn his life around and he is now on his way to forging a career with the Royal Logistic Corps.

The Supporting Service Children in Education Wales project continues to go from strength to strength. Digital stories and films have been developed to provide additional training for staff and raise awareness of the challenges faced by service children. The digital stories provide a unique insight into the life of armed forces children here in Wales. We are well aware that housing is one of the biggest challenges facing veterans and their families. We have consulted with our key partners to provide and develop a housing referral pathway. This will enable veterans and their families to make informed choices of an option most appropriate for them. I’ll be launching the pathway on 10 November.

Keep Safe Cymru for veterans is a good example of how working together has made a difference to the lives of those most vulnerable in our communities. Veterans with specific health needs, and who may need additional support from emergency services in times of crisis, can register their details with the police whose response will be modified accordingly. I’ll be launching this scheme on 23 November.

Llywydd, we frequently hear about the invaluable support provided by service families and spouses, many of whom have given up their own choices and opportunities in order to support their loved ones. There are times when they, too, need help and the opportunity to have their own career and develop their skills.

As I said earlier, our childcare offer will be helping working parents of three and four-year-olds by providing free early learning and childcare. The offer can give parents choices about their employment, how many hours they wish to work and the location. I’m delighted to tell you that D.J. Rees Decorating Services from Merthyr have been awarded a gold award in this year’s employer recognition scheme—the first in Wales for supporting and helping members of the armed forces community to find employment here in Wales.

Llywydd, we will continue to support the Veterans’ NHS Wales service. In the future, we’ll be looking to create a more seamless approach with our key partners such as CAIS and the Royal British Legion to afford our veterans the support that they need. We’ve come a long way, Llywydd, but there is more to do. In challenging times such as these, it’s important we move forward together, and with our key partners, we can make a difference for this community.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement in what is an important week and for many, a hugely emotional week and a week that we should all take time to stop, think and contemplate upon, bearing in mind that, often, the further back we look, the further forward we can see.

In your statement, you referred to the employability pathway, which, again, I welcome and it can be a critical issue. Data from Veterans’ NHS Wales show that only a third of the veterans assessed in 2014-15 described themselves as being employed either full-time or part-time. It’s also been found that only 52 per cent of early service leavers were in education, employment or training six months after leaving the armed forces.

In 2012, CTP Future Horizons was launched with the Ministry of Defence to help early service leavers, and after six months, 63 per cent were in employment or training. How, therefore, do you address the concern that, although there are resettlement centres in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Germany, there are currently none in Wales?

You referred to the Supporting Service Children in Education Wales project, however, in a related matter in Wales, there’s no separate pupil premium for children of service personnel, and where Welsh Government instead provides the pupil deprivation grant, it’s only available to children eligible for free school meals, to which few service children are entitled. In contrast, the service pupil premium in England provides extra funding for schools to support children and young people with parents in the armed forces. In evidence to the defence committee in 2013, service families felt that they’d been disadvantaged by the lack of a pupil premium until then, identified as an important tool in helping schools to identify and support service families. How, therefore, do you refer to this? It was an issue raised by the Royal British Legion in their 2016 Wales manifesto, and their call on the Welsh Government to implement a Welsh service pupil premium.

You referred to housing being one of the biggest challenges and the development of a housing referral pathway for ex-service personnel and their families. The pathway, I know, has been welcomed within the sector, but there are concerns—although it’s not published, I know it’s due publication imminently—that it just details in one place what someone is already entitled to or not entitled to without offering extra, and emphasises the need for the Welsh Government to ensure front-line housing staff receive training about that. I wonder if you could, again, respond to that concern.

You referred to Keep Safe Cymru for veterans and I welcome the fact that veterans with specific health needs can register their details with the police, whose response will be modified accordingly. You’re no doubt aware, and I had an update on this at the weekend in meetings, that CAIS, working with North Wales Police, introduced a custody suite form, which asks, ‘Are you a veteran?’ when people enter the custody suite. It’s now being rolled out, I understand, to Gwent. I wonder whether you’re engaged in discussions regarding that reaching all of Wales’s forces. Or have you got some good news to share with us to that effect?

At the end of your statement, you referred to the Veterans’ NHS Wales service. You might be aware, and I’m sure you are, that, further to my raising issues with you in July, I received a letter from the Welsh Government in August. This referred to the first appointment for those meeting the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder averaging 42 days, but in fact the waiting time that the Royal British Legion campaigned for in the UK Government election manifesto was 126 days—18 weeks—and the figures are outside the Welsh Government’s own 28-day target for a primary care service, where the 28-day target is referral to assessment only. The reality, I understand, is that the latest figures for last month show that waiting times in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Betsi Cadwaladr and Aneurin Bevan health boards were up to 38 weeks for referral to treatment, which is what the concern had related to.

Are you drawing to a conclusion, please?

You refer at the very end to CAIS and, of course, they do some brilliant projects, Change Step, particularly. They also run Listen In for family support. The funding for that has ended. They are providing lower tier support within Change Step, but, again, given your reference at the end to providing veterans and their families with the support they need, how, if at all, is the Welsh Government engaging with CAIS to discuss how that gap in wider support for families can be provided for?

I thank the Member for his questions and his commitment to the armed forces. Obviously, devolution poses challenges, but also opportunities and it would be wrong for Mark Isherwood not to raise the good things that are happening in Wales that aren’t happening in England. He raised the issue of the pupil grant. I’m not going to shy away from the pupil deprivation grant in Wales; it’s a great enhancement to the educational attainment of our most vulnerable pupils and we should continue to fund that. Of course, I listened carefully to his concerns about the aspects of armed forces’ children here in Wales and the opportunities we present there. Supporting Service Children in Education Cymru is a programme that was established in 2014 by the Welsh Local Government Association with funding from the Ministry of Defence’s education support fund. We are learning from that programme. Indeed, in Brecon, in Kirsty Williams’s constituency, the Supporting Service Children in Education initiative has helped Nepalese families, as part of the Gurkha regiment, settle into school and the wider community. So, we do have some good practice here in Wales.

With regard to Veterans’ NHS Wales, we are proud of the work that we are engaged in. The veterans NHS service provides a dedicated veterans therapist in each of the health boards and it’s the only national service for veterans of this kind in the UK. The Member failed to mention that. We provide £585,000 per annum of funding to support Veterans’ NHS Wales and over 1,670 veterans have been referred to this service so far. I do recognise also the pressure in the system: I don’t deny that and there is more work to do, and I said that within the statement. But it would be wrong of us not to celebrate the good work that goes on in our communities, supporting individuals as we move forward. Indeed, the relationship with CAIS and the Royal British Legion is one that I welcome and will continue to engage with.

The Member made reference on several occasions to the Royal British Legion and their views on this. The Royal British Legion is part of my armed forces expert group, and I’m surprised that some of the points that the Member raises haven’t been raised directly with me by the Royal British Legion or other organisations in that respect. The Member says they have, but I can assure you that in the meeting that I had last time, none of the points that he raised here with me today was on the list that was raised with me.

I met with the expert group in July to determine our future priorities and how, by working together, we can deliver these. I think the expert group is a great opportunity for us to learn, to disseminate information and to understand the multi-agency membership of this group, where we can be well informed. Rather than the anecdotal evidence that Members sometimes produce, actually, I’m really interested to understand the facts and figures from the presentations that are brought to me by the armed forces and the support agencies around them.

I think the statement today from the Cabinet Secretary is a positive one and as I’ll say tomorrow during the Conservative debate, Plaid Cymru is supportive of the work that the Welsh Government is doing with veterans, provided that they are properly measured and the outcomes are transparent for us all to see. But there is a growing problem around Remembrance Day, and my questions today are going to focus on these issues and how the Welsh Government reacts to them.

We’ve all seen the furore over FIFA’s refusal to allow the home nations to wear poppy armbands for international games. None of this is helped by the fact that FIFA has shown itself to be corrupt to the core in recent times. But does the Cabinet Secretary believe that, despite the fact that this rule is in existence, the team should mark the commemorations in a different way, potentially by having a minute’s silence or, as we have done in other football matches—we’ve held up cards in support of the team—by holding up a picture of a poppy, as opposed to being potentially made a point by FIFA in relation to our efforts to reach Russia in that football tournament? I am at heart a rebel, but I think sometimes we need to obviously think about how our nation does in these circumstances, as opposed to potentially engaging in this political football that FIFA no doubt wants us to engage in.

It seems we cannot get anywhere near this date without fictitious stories of staged arguments with imaginary offended Muslims or other minorities who are claimed to stop poppy wearers in the street and demand their removal. The purpose of this is clear: the story is designed as some kind of commentary on how the country is being taken over, how British values are under threat. Anyone who lives with Muslims for neighbours knows this is not the case, but would the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that this is little more than racism that is allowed to bleed out into the public arena on the grounds that it is somehow acceptable, and that it does nothing other than ascribe stereotypes on the basis of no evidence whatsoever?

Would he also agree with me that most people will approach Remembrance Day through the prism of their own personal experiences and values? We shouldn’t tell anybody what to do in this regard. For example, many people give because they support the idea of contributing to the care of veterans by the Royal British Legion and other charities in the sector. I myself gave my salary increase to a charity in my area, in Port Talbot, Step Change, which helps provide services for veterans with mental health problems, because they recognised that, sadly, waiting times are still an issue for those with mental health problems, and that families often get forgotten when their loved ones leave the military. Many of us choose not to wear a red poppy and wear a white poppy, or no poppy at all. It shouldn’t be for anybody to judge other people if we decide to commemorate and think about our history in our own individual ways. I use, again, the football analogy. I don’t often wear the Welsh top to a football match, but that does not mean that I’m not a fervent football fan, and I’m definitely a fervent nationalist. I think that’s how we have to see these things sometimes.

And does the Cabinet Secretary agree that it is unacceptable that we now have a political climate in which those that do something as small as wear a white poppy, or none at all, can find themselves vilified on the internet and then in a media that has lost all proportion on what we are there to mark—the still breathtaking loss of life—in favour of something altogether more political? Because I think, at the end of the day, we have to understand that, while we are commemorating those who have lost their lives, we should be commemorating everybody who has lost their lives due to war, in whatever circumstance, and in whatever way they are implicated. We should also be remembering those conscientious objectors who did take the stand to not engage in war, and who have also through history been criticised. Actually we should understand why they made those decisions and how they came to make those decisions, and not let that get lost in the debate around Armistice Day and the future of how wars may be conducted in our name. Thank you.

I thank the Member for her important contribution today and demonstrating her approach to the way she respects the armed forces and veterans, and remembers the people who have lost their lives in service, and also the families in that way, too.

A couple of points I’ll respond to: on the FIFA principle, I know the Member is an avid Welsh fan. I’ve seen her with my own eyes in a Welsh top, as with many other people in this Assembly, and long may that last. But I think the issue for me is that the great success in the UK is the power of freedom of speech, and I think if people wish to do this, they should be allowed to do that. And I certainly won’t be the one to condemn individuals if they wish to wear a poppy or they don’t wear a poppy. Respect is of the heart of the individual, and whether that’s by respecting somebody and commemorating Armistice Day and Sunday, whether that be within the confines of their own home or whether it be at the Cenotaph to take a moment of time, that is down to the individual and I fear that, often, we are too critical of each other in terms of the presentation of respect.

I share the Member’s views in terms of the overt way that people are criticising other faiths. I know many Muslim communities myself who have a lot of respect for the armed forces and the way that they go about this, but people do use this as a false pretence of racism, and we have to do everything we can in our power to stop that. The Member had some very strong views on many of these issues, and I’m grateful to her for bringing those to the Assembly’s attention today, but ultimately people will respect each other in the way that they feel fit, and long may that last.

Dawn Bowden.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, but actually Bethan Jenkins has already asked the question I was going to ask in terms of the issue around FIFA, and I think the Cabinet Secretary has responded to that. But, while I’m on my feet, I would like to just add my congratulations to D.J. Rees Decorating Services of Merthyr, which won the gold award for supporting the employability of our armed forces.

A very quick contribution, but a great press line for the Member. I also will pass on my congratulations again to D.J. Rees Decorating Services. They’ve done a tremendous job, actually. This isn’t easy, and they should be congratulated. I hope that you do visit them and pass my best regards on to them, too.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Cabinet Secretary spoke for us all when he said we must never forget those who courageously gave their lives to protect the freedoms that we have today. And this isn’t an occasion for making party political points, in my opinion, on the eve of Remembrance Day, and if we are, from time to time, constructively critical of the Cabinet Secretary, it’s only because we’re trying to help him do his job even better than he does already. And we know his heart is in the right place.

One of the great privileges I’ve had in the short time I’ve been in this place was to go on behalf of the Assembly to the commemorations in Mametz Wood a few months ago, which was a very affecting occasion. I would like to commend the Government for the many initiatives that they’ve taken, and which are enumerated in the statement: the package of support and the various other things, like the armed forces employability pathway and Supporting Service Children in Education Wales in particular. It’s very important that we help service families and those who are ex-service, particularly, to reintegrate into civil society. They often have very specific difficulties to cope with and need a lot of official help. So, I don’t propose to make cavilling points of criticism about the extent to which any of these packages may be improved on this occasion; I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other opportunities for us to that.

I would just like to draw attention also to the housing issue. Again, 25 per cent of all the individual cases that the Royal British Legion gets are related to housing problems, and it is a national disgrace, I think, not just in Wales but in the United Kingdom, that there are 8,000 veterans who are homeless at this moment and not properly catered for. I very much look forward to hearing the details of the health referral pathway on 10 November. Presumably there’ll be another statement where we can explore the details of that, because one of the problems that servicepeople have is that there’s very often a great deal of uncertainty about the content of their entitlements under local housing allocation policies and, perhaps, his pathway statement will throw some light upon that.

There’s only one issue that I would like to raise, because it hasn’t been raised hitherto, and that’s in respect of social care costs for injured veterans. The Cabinet Secretary will be well aware of the discrimination against those with pre-2005 injuries, as opposed to those afterwards in relation to the disregards of social care costs. I know that the Government has made great strides to improve the situation by raising the disregard from £10 to £25. But there is a particular injustice, I think, in as much as also this personnel, in comparison with the civilian pensioners, are at a disadvantage, because civilian pensioners can invest their compensation awards in a trust fund, which is fully disregarded. Perhaps the Cabinet Secretary might give us some reflection on that, but, otherwise, that’s all I propose to say this afternoon.

I’m grateful for the comments of the Member, and, of course, I think we can come together on many of these issues, like the commemoration, as we have in front of us today. In regard to some of the detail of his question, he’s right in saying that I will be launching the housing pathway on 10 November, and more details will follow. We’re finalising the development of a pathway consultation with our key partners, predominantly from the expert group, the panel that understand these issues that veterans and families require, and I’ll make a statement or a written statement to the Chamber appropriately.

It must go without saying, though, that I think for far too long the armed forces—the Government, the armed forces. Once service personnel leave the acquaintance of the armed forces, it troubles me that, actually, we set them on a journey of, often, failure. I think, actually, once you sign up to be a service person, you should have a much longer–lasting relationship with that, post service. Because we pick up the pieces; communities pick up the pieces of the effects of trauma through war or through other issues experienced. My family have all served in the armed forces, and, for the two elections prior to this one, my brother served in Iraq—he left in the final week of preparation for the election—which was very traumatic for his family, but for all of the family. Fortunately, he was one that was lucky and came back, but it does have an effect longer term, and I think we should have a longer-term relationship with the armed forces, and that’s something I’m very keen to take up with UK Ministers in that respect.

The issue of social care costs, I think I’m correct in saying—if I’m not, the Minister will correct me by letter, but I understand, from April of next year, we will be introducing a full disregard for armed forces here in Wales. So, it’s something that I hope, again, the Member will welcome. There are many discrepancies; indeed, as a Member, I’ve got an issue with the war widows pension. When a widower remarries, they lose their war pension. I think there’s an equality issue here, and I think it’s something, long term, the UK Government should address too.

I think today has been a really useful opportunity to express, across the Chamber, our commitment to the armed forces and families here in Wales. There are challenges in the system and we must continue to strive to make that better, and I hope that, in the non-partisan way that we have been able to have this discussion this afternoon, we can continue to embed a better quality service for people who have put themselves and their families on the line for us and many prior to this. Thank you.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.