This year, we must also thank our armed forces for the significant peacetime contribution they've made to ensure vital NHS services still run and supplies are distributed to our important front-line services during the COVID-19 pandemic. As this cross-party motion states, the Welsh Parliament expresses its gratitude for the significant contribution made by the armed forces to the national COVID-19 response in Wales. However, we should also ensure that they continue to receive our support by upholding the armed forces covenant.

We welcomed last month's confirmation from the Welsh Government that military veterans in Wales will benefit from a new railcard offering discounted rail travel, after the scheme was announced by the UK Government in England earlier this year. Following a campaign, led by the Royal British Legion and Poppy Scotland, which I've previously raised here, we welcomed the UK Government's announcement in July that the 2021 census will now include a question to provide information on whether someone has served in our armed forces. This will provide the legion, public bodies and other military charities with valuable information to ensure that they can best meet the needs of serving personnel, veterans and their families.

The Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative was recently launched by the Office for Veterans' Affairs in the UK Cabinet Office to encourage more veterans to join the civil service when they leave the armed forces, ensuring the civil service benefits from the wide range of skills and talents in our armed forces community. We therefore also welcomed last weekend's Welsh Government announcement that they will be joining this initiative. Leaving the armed forces can be particularly challenging for veterans, who often find it difficult to settle into civilian life and find a job. As well as benefiting the civil service, this initiative boosts the employment prospects of people who have served, helping them to advance their careers beyond the armed forces.

It's imperative that the hard work of Veterans NHS Wales both continues and continues to expand, providing veterans living in Wales with assessment and psychological treatment for mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Between April 2010, when its service was launched, and March 2019, they've received 4,319 referrals. In 2018-19 alone, 808 referrals were received. Veterans NHS Wales's business case for increased funding now is inarguable, and I therefore ask the Welsh Government when a decision will be made, where several therapists have uncertain employment post March 2021.

The scale of the need was again emphasised to me during a call in September with the charity Icarus Online, in its third year after being established in response to the issues faced by veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and the severity of their symptoms. Icarus provides immediate care, assessment and rehabilitation for military veterans, uniformed services and their families. A team of just 16 people, all volunteers, are treating 1,100 people annually, plugging a gap in access to treatment. They receive three new cases every day via their answering service, provided by Moneypenny in Wexham.

As amendment 2 states, we must strive for peaceful resolutions to all conflicts and for an end to war, and we therefore welcome the establishment of Academi Heddwch Cymru. We will be supporting amendment 2 accordingly.

Welsh Conservatives would also appoint an armed forces commissioner for Wales, accountable to the Welsh Parliament, to champion the needs of the armed forces community and ensure that Wales upholds the armed forces covenant; establish an armed forces card to provide free bus travel, priority access to NHS treatment, and home adaptations for service-related injuries or illness; free access to leisure centres and Cadw heritage sites; introduce a service people premium for the children of those serving in the armed forces; bring 150 empty social housing properties back into use, specifically for military veterans at risk of homelessness; and ensure the maintenance of war memorials. We will remember them.