Whilst a county councillor, I was proud to serve on a council that signed up to the armed forces covenant that's already been talked about today. As the then armed forces champion at Monmouthshire County Council, I worked with the fantastic armed forces liaison officer Lisa Rawlings, who has done and is doing an incredible job, ensuring all councils across my region are now gold standard and are doing all they can to support veterans and armed forces children, ensuring vital services and concessions such as veteran discounts and free swimming lessons, and also that we use our covenant fund to support great local projects, as well as doing everything possible to support veterans to lead as normal a life as possible, and as well as providing the mental health support that they need. But as a Senedd, we must and can do a lot more across portfolio responsibilities.

Throughout my time in the role as champion for Monmouthshire County Council, working with people like Lisa Rawlings, I saw just how crucial her work was in this area, and I hope that we do everything we can to make her role and others across Wales permanent. It's absolutely essential going forward, as we can't be in a position where we rely on these people for essential work, yet they don't know if they're going to be employed the following year. So, I was delighted when the Deputy Minister today said that there was going to be continued funding for those roles, which are vital in Wales. The liaison officers have been pivotal in creating the successful initiatives that we now see across Wales. The veterans hub in Caerphilly, run by Kelly Farr and Lisa Rawlings, is having evidenced positive outcomes and is truly a one-stop shop for veterans; similarly in Newport, Monmouth and in other areas of Wales. They are examples of best practice. In my region of Gwent, all five local authorities, as I've said, have achieved gold now on the defence employer recognition scheme, and all five are offering the guaranteed interview scheme for the armed forces community. Great strides have been made.

It is not just for veterans that we see much-needed support now being given, thanks to SSCE, Supporting Service Children in Education in Wales, who work hard to co-ordinate research and compile evidence on the experiences of service children in education and to ensure their needs are well understood. We see this service benefiting children of service personnel and armed forces families. However, the lack of data that we have still on service children in Wales is actually very worrying, and the absolute need to compound this evidence is so that we can support them, the families and the children, in the best way that we can, with their unique needs. So, it's vital, and I hope that our new commission will look to address this and ensure there is up-to-date data on the pupil level annual school census going forward. I'm sure the Minister will agree.

Rightly now we're seeing veterans included in the initial shaping of all policies going forward, and at all levels of Government, which is actually how it should be, but there is still more that we can do. I was buoyed by the recent appointment, as we all were, it seems today, of the first ever Veterans' Commissioner for Wales, Colonel James Phillips, a man who recently left the army after serving 33 years, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and the Balkans. The veterans' commissioner, with his experience in the armed forces, will bring knowledge, experience and understanding to the specific issues that veterans face, and I'm sure will represent them to fullest, alongside the Conservative Government being the first to appoint a specific veterans' Minister with a seat at the Cabinet table, which is an extremely positive step.

There is still more we can do for veterans, whether it be better mental health support, support for their children, or stopping historic prosecutions. But we must not and cannot afford to rest up in our campaign to better support the conditions for our veterans. I will proudly be attending services in my region over the next two weeks to pay my respects to those who have made the greatest sacrifice, and I'll be taking time to also think of those who are serving right now in Ukraine. I just want to say, Minister, that the decision made by the police in my area to no longer police the traditional remembrance parades has been extremely disappointing, as it means that local people will now no longer be able to commemorate in the way that they used to in our local towns. That's something that perhaps you could look at.

I'd urge everyone to take a minute this week to reflect on the huge sacrifices made by our armed forces and to support the poppy appeal wherever they can. We will remember them.