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.