Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 12 November 2019.
Can I start by thanking Mark Isherwood for sharing his own family stories of Mack, who flew a glider in the second world war? There are so many tales of tremendous bravery in service that I'm sure that we're all able to share ourselves now as we reflect and remember and also learn from the past.
I'll do my best to try and address a number of the questions that the Member raised. Just to start with the final point with regard to priority access in terms of housing allocation and homelessness, as I referred to in the statement, there is currently an independent review of priority need in housing, which is due to report back in April next year. And, of course, the impact on veterans and the work of our scoping exercise will be a part of that as well.
Alongside the talk of transition, the scoping exercise has picked up that there is support there and it's about the signposting as well and making sure that people are aware of this support, but also, actually, the scoping exercise does highlight transition as one of those areas where we might need to look to see how we can, perhaps, plug some of those gaps. So, I hope, possibly, early in the new year, to be in a position to further update Members on that and the work that the armed forces expert group is now taking forward in order for us to be able to deliver on that.
You raised a very significant point in terms of older veterans in particular, and perhaps the complex needs that they may have. It was my pleasure to be part of the Age Cymru Project 360 and to contribute to that, as well as speak at their conference—to work collaboratively with them and other partners to ensure that, as we move forward, we make sure we are providing the necessary support and assistance for all of our veterans and particularly people as they get older as well.
In respect to another issue, the application of council tax reduction was raised in this Chamber by a colleague of yours last week in business questions, and it's certainly something that I and the Minister for Housing and Local Government can take forward with colleagues in local authorities to ensure that people are being made aware of these reductions and they are being applied where they should be applied as well.
In terms of the question on PLASC, I'm working closely with officials across Government, both in the DES department and with the Minister for Education, with regard to actually taking forward that recommendation. We recognise that having that data would be incredibly beneficial in order to support service children in education and that work is ongoing. I hope to be in a position to update Members shortly.