We now move to the short debate and I call on Darren Millar to speak on the topic he has chosen—Darren.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. One of the great privileges that I've been able to enjoy while serving as an Assembly Member over the past 12 years has been my role as chair of the National Assembly's cross-party group on the armed forces and cadets. Since it was established over a decade ago, the cross-party group has sought to work with stakeholders and the Welsh Government to identify good practice, expose challenges and to champion the cause of our veterans in relation to devolved policy areas. I'm very pleased to report that it's been a very fruitful relationship and I can confidently say that Wales has, in many respects, been leading the way in the UK when it comes to support for veterans and their families.

Back in 2010, during the third Assembly, the Health, Well-being and Local Government Committee undertook an inquiry into post-traumatic stress disorder treatment services for veterans here in Wales. The Welsh Government responded positively to that report by developing a new, bespoke mental health service for veterans as a result. That service, which is now known as Veterans' NHS Wales, has been a godsend for the hundreds of veterans and their families who have received support from Neil Kitchener, who leads the service, and his fantastic team of therapists. 

Then, in 2011, we saw the armed forces covenant, which was enshrined into UK law. The covenant, of course, is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families are treated fairly. It has principles that pledge that the armed forces community should never face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services, and that special consideration, in appropriate cases, should be given to them, especially to those who've given the most, such as the injured or bereaved. That covenant was very enthusiastically embraced here in Wales.

I was delighted that Wales was the very first nation in the UK to see every single local authority sign up to it, and this resulted of course in armed forces champions being appointed in every local authority area, and lead officers also being appointed to promote the covenant. Welsh health boards also signed up and they've also appointed champions as well. I'm pleased to say that an increasing number of private businesses and third sector organisations have been subscribing too. 

Now, in the wake of subscribing to the covenant, many local authorities developed new services, they established good practice, and they began partnerships with the third sector. And the centenary of the first world war has also helped to maintain a focus on issues and challenges facing the armed forces community here in Wales. The impact of the covenant was recently the subject of an inquiry by the cross-party group, and we published our report at the end of 2017. It documented and celebrated the significant progress that had been achieved since 2011, and many Members will have seen evidence of the outworking of the covenant in their own constituencies. I certainly have.

Llanddulas, near Abergele, saw the establishment of the UK's first veteran shed, which was established by Falklands veteran Martin Margerison, one of my constituents. The shed is now based in Colwyn Bay, it's had ministerial visits, and it provides veterans with the opportunity to get together, put the world to rights and to support one another with practical tasks and volunteering. Colwyn Bay is also home to the headquarters of Change Step, a Wales-wide programme that offers effective support for veterans across the country, including dedicated services for those in crisis, older veterans and people with mental health and substance misuse needs. It was established by the substance misuse charity CAIS, and it's got a team of veterans who act as peer mentors, using their own experiences to help veterans to navigate and confront the challenges in their lives. It works hand in glove, of course, with Veterans' NHS Wales, and I've been very grateful to Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion and the Welsh Government for the financial support they've extended to it. It's the only service of its kind in the UK.

Last year, also in Colwyn Bay, we saw the establishment of a Woody's Lodge, one of two in Wales. The other is in south Wales, here in the Vale of Glamorgan. I think David Melding has visited there in the past. Woody's Lodges are social hubs, they guide veterans to the help and support that they need and try to re-engage them with their families and communities, and the vision is to create an inviting meeting space for those who have served with the armed forces and the wider emergency services, where they can receive the support and the advice and connect with new and old friends.

The wider Conwy area is also blessed to host Alabare homes for veterans. Working in partnership with First Choice Housing, Alabare, which is a Christian charity, provides a home in Glan Conwy and two in Llandudno Junction for veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. And it's this issue of housing that I want to turn to for the rest of the time that I have available, because it's still an area that needs our attention. The issue of homelessness among veterans has been a topic that has been discussed in the mess halls of barracks, on frigates, and in air bases since the end of the Napoleonic wars in the early nineteenth century. And 200 years later, while we've made significant progress, I regret to say that there are still veterans sleeping rough on the streets here in Wales.

Now, the Welsh Government, to be fair, has worked hard to try to tackle this problem. In addition to its general homelessness prevention programmes, it's also focused additional attention on former military personnel. Housing is a key strand in the Welsh Government's package of support for the armed forces, and a national housing pathway specifically for ex-service personnel has also been developed. The third sector partners that established the Veterans' Gateway—a 24-hour Wales-based service that helps former servicemen and women to navigate their new lives as civilians—have also sought to signpost people to the support agencies such as SSAFA, and Alabare, which I mentioned earlier.

Now, estimates of the number of members of the armed forces community living in Wales vary, but some have suggested that it could be as high as 385,000. Now, the overwhelming majority of these ex-servicemen and women make the transition back to civilian life very, very well. But a small and significant minority struggle to adjust. And I think that the least that we can do as a society is to repay the debt of gratitude that we owe to these heroes by assisting them in securing a roof over their heads. Now, in recognition of this, the Welsh Government has taken some positive steps. Here in Wales, those leaving the armed forces are awarded additional preference for housing purposes when applying for social housing to local authorities. Local authorities are also encouraged to give additional preference for ex-service personnel who've sustained an injury, a medical condition or a disability because of their service. Homeless veterans are afforded additional priority need. Armed forces compensation scheme payments or war pension scheme payments are disregarded when applying for disabled facilities grants to adapt people's homes, and service personnel and veterans have priority status in the Welsh Government's homebuy and Rent First schemes, as do widows and widowers of individuals who've been killed during their time in service. Now, these are welcome moves, but they don't go far enough. Local authorities, for example, can consider giving additional preference to veterans and then decide not to, because it's just guidance, it's not a statutory obligation, and many social landlords, such as housing associations, fall completely outside of the guidance that is available. And there are other disadvantages faced by military families, which are also yet to be addressed. Shared ownership schemes and rent-to-own schemes do not afford any special privileges to those who've served in the military.

And then we've got the thorny issue of the local connection criteria that are often used by many social landlords. Many of them require housing applicants who have lived in an area to have lived in an area for a certain length of time in order to establish eligibility for a local housing list. But what if you'd been posted to a military base for a matter of just months before your service came to an end? That can disqualify you from receiving any assistance whatsoever, and it's wrong. Those leaving military accommodation are sometimes discriminated against because of this lack of a local connection and it can result in them being disqualified as being eligible for housing by those registered landlords. And it's not just those serving in the forces who are affected by this either. There are also their families and dependents to think about, because these rules also disadvantage the spouses and the civil partners of those in the forces if they lose their spouse or they suffer a relationship breakdown. Now, all of these situations I've mentioned can lead to a lack of appropriate support and a greater risk of inappropriate housing or homelessness.

Now, as I mentioned before, we've got some great organisations that are seeking to support those who are at risk, such as Alabare, but their support is also not available in all parts of Wales. As I mentioned before, they've established somehow some houses in the Conwy area. They've also got places in Wrexham and elsewhere, but, unfortunately, not all parts of Wales are covered by their services. And that's why, in answer to the question that my debate poses today: 'Housing our heroes: are we meeting the needs of our veterans here in Wales?', my answer is, 'No, not yet, but we're making good progress'. So, what needs to change? Well, I believe that we need statutory guidance that's applicable to all registered social landlords, not just local authorities. We need to crack this issue of the local connection criteria once and for all by waiving any requirements for a local connection for anyone leaving service family accommodation, including military spouses or dependents, and we need to honour our heroes by giving them additional preference in all Welsh Government housing schemes, including shared ownership schemes and rent to own. We also need to ensure that, where things do fall apart, there's a local supported housing scheme specifically for veterans to help them get back on their feet, and I very much hope that the Deputy Minister, with this new role, will be able to take some of these suggestions forward. Thank you.

I've given a minute of my time to Mark Isherwood; I should have mentioned that earlier, and I do apologise. 

Yes, that's fine. Thank you. Mark Isherwood. 

Diolch. Yesterday, the UK defence Secretary announced that service leavers and their families will now be able to access military accommodation for up to a year after leaving, giving them more time to look for permanent accommodation as they transition back to civilian life, because housing is key to veterans and their families. First Choice Housing Association, which led the way on this in Wales, delivered the ambitious self-build project for veterans in Wrexham, the third residence in north Wales to be managed by Alabare's Wales Home for Veterans, taking the charity's provision across Wales for veterans adjusting to the civilian world to 57. However, the Welsh Government's housing referrals pathway for veterans does not address the concerns of how housing officers themselves who provide the necessary support are able to manage the complex cases of rehomed veterans. Better integration of housing, health and care services is therefore needed from the Welsh Government, and they must explain why there's been a large reduction in the number of veterans households accepted by local authorities as being in priority housing need since the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 was introduced.

Thank you very much. I call the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate. Hannah Blythyn.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank the Member for raising this important issue in the Chamber today? I know that you're a passionate and active advocate in this area, and in your opening you said that it was a privilege to be chair of the cross-party group for armed forces and cadets. And, whilst I'm relatively new to this role, it is a privilege for me to be asked to do this and to lead on veterans for the Welsh Government. 

All Governments have a duty to support their ex-service personnel, especially the small minority who find difficulty in the transition to civilian life. As the Member said, it is only right that we give back to those who have given so much in service to their country. This is why Welsh Government supports the armed forces community, and is committed to continuing to do so in the future. It's only right that we ensure that veterans are provided with the help and support they need and when they need it. Our package of support and 'Welcome to Wales' document provide useful information for both ex-service personnel and their families. We support Veterans' NHS Wales with nearly £700,000 annually to respond to mental ill health problems and conduct research trials. Working in partnership with Change Step provides the opportunity for veterans to access peer mentoring and other helpful support, including advice on housing, employment and reducing substance misuse.

But today's debate focuses on housing. The Member mentions numerous examples in his contribution, including the example of the shed in his own constituency. Positive steps have been taken in the provision of high-quality and affordable housing for veterans, and another example, not too far away from you, still in north Wales, in Wrexham, is Tŷ Ryan, which is a pioneering self-build project that works with homeless veterans. The project provided them with onsite work experience, as well as the chance of a home when the work was completed—a home that they could be proud to say they worked on themselves—and, at the same time, supporting their health and well-being at a challenging time in their lives. 

Hafal's acute care tenancy support programme is another example of a service that provides the support needed for veterans who have mental health issues and find themselves unable to hold on to their home. There are a number of support providers in Wales providing housing assistance to members of the armed forces community, and the Welsh Government regularly engages with these providers through our ministerial expert group and with officials who work—[Interruption.] to promote services for the armed forces sector in Wales. Bless you. [Laughter.]

The Welsh Government has made its view very clear that it's important service personnel who have been seriously injured or disabled in action and who have an urgent need for social housing should be given high priority within local authority allocation schemes in recognition of their service. I understand that all local authorities have additional preferences for veterans, and preventing homelessness for everyone is a priority for this Government. Nearly 20,000 households have been successfully helped since April 2015, and our legislation has led to help for more people, and help, importantly, at an earlier stage. We have demonstrated our commitment by investing £30 million on preventing and relieving homelessness over this year and next year. This funding will support a range of statutory and non-statutory services to help those who do not have a secure place to live, which, obviously, will include veterans as well. 

When drafting the legislation, we ensured that we retained the original priority need category, which ensures that everyone homeless immediately upon leaving the regular armed forces continues to benefit from the guarantee of accommodation. In support of this, and in collaboration with our partners, we developed an ex-service personnel housing referral pathway to help ex-service personnel and their families make an informed choice on their accommodation needs when transferring back into civilian life. This is intended to ease the process and help ex-service personnel and their families resettle into their chosen communities. This includes advice in relation to gaining access to social housing and the private rented market. For those who require it, there is also advice on how to access homelessness support. To further promote the pathway, we also developed advice cards for ex-service personnel sleeping rough, along with leaflets and posters. These publications included contact details for the Veterans' Gateway service, and the Member will be familiar with that it's a one-stop shop for veterans and family members to access services and support in one place. 

Immediately following the 2015 legislation, the number of people identified as being in priority need due to being homeless since leaving the armed forces was less than three each year. In 2017-18, this increased to nine ex-service personnel. We continue to monitor this data and information, and, whilst we are confident the system in place is working, we are by no means complacent. And I wholeheartedly take on board the challenges that the Member's raised today that still face ex-service personnel and their families, whether that be guidance, connection. And, hopefully, our scoping exercise can actually identify some of them for us, and we'll be in a position to take that forward in the future. 

Also, I think we acknowledge that not every individual presenting at a service will disclose their armed forces background. The new veterans ID card may help with the identification process, but it will not overcome disclosure issues, and will not help those who are already in crisis.

You talked about being proud that Wales was the first country for every local authority to sign up to the armed forces covenant. And, since coming in to the role, I've heard much about the valuable work that armed forces liaison officers are carrying out across Wales in relation to supporting the needs of this community, including the partnership working with Solas Cymru and the appointment of a veteran support worker for the homeless in Gwent. This is something that I would like to see replicated across other local authorities in Wales.

The Welsh Government has provided £500,000 to extend the armed forces liaison officer posts for a further two years. This will enable services received by the ex-service community to be embedded in mainstream support from local authorities in the future, including support for housing needs. We will continue to work with key partners, including outreach services, veterans charities and the Veterans' Gateway to ensure our armed forces community receives the support and advice they need to aid transition into civilian life. I think, particularly within this sector, we achieve more by working together in partnership, and in pooling the expertise and resources.

The Welsh Government is also in the process of commissioning an independent assessment of making changes to priority need, as it is vital we understand the consequences, both intended and unintended, before making any changes. This is due to report in April next year, and any changes to the current system would need to continue to support our aim of ensuring that veterans are able to access the support and services they need.

We are also monitoring closely the ongoing UK Government consultation in response to issues raised by the 2017 armed forces covenant annual report, which sets out proposals for amending local authority guidance in England, with the intention of, among other things, making it clear that local authorities are expected to remove local connection requirements for divorced or separated spouses of ex-service personnel, as well as ensuring that those suffering from mental ill health are given appropriate priority for social housing.

To conclude, I want to take the opportunity again to assure all Members that preventing our ex-service personnel from falling into homelessness and possibly rough sleeping is a priority for this Government. Yes, there are still challenges to be met, but I'm pleased we recognise together how far we have come and our collective commitment to the delivery of public service in Wales in ways that support our armed forces community. I genuinely look forward to working with you to support our armed forces community going forward in the future.

Thank you very much. And that brings today's proceedings to a close. Thank you.

The meeting ended at 19:12.