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.