The UK's ex-Service community is largely elderly; almost half are over age 75 and 64% are over age 65. It is important that this country meets their needs, just as they answered the needs of their country; meeting the call of the nation during the First and Second World Wars, through national service, voluntary enlistment and the reserve forces.<\/p>
To support this community, £5 million of LIBOR funding has been made available every year for the next five years for any UK veterans who are surviving World War Two veterans, those who undertook National Service and other voluntary enlisted veterans who, by virtue of their age, may need some focused support in relation to their health and social care needs.<\/p>
The funds will not provide benevolence payments to individuals. Charities can bid for money to provide practical support and/or companionship to this group of veterans to improve their wellbeing. This might also include projects to build or enhance access to centres where elderly veterans can meet, or to promote the education of elderly veterans' needs, research and other support mechanisms.<\/p>
The Ministry of Defence intends to administer the fund through a dedicated grant scheme. The terms of this scheme are being developed and will be announced in due course.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3428", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Astor of Hever"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-03-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-03-25T17:36:09.267Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-03-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Veterans: Northern Ireland"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government whether army veterans based in Northern Ireland will benefit from the £25 million healthcare fund for aged veterans announced in the Budget, and if so, how.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4216", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Empey"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Empey"} ], "uin" : "HL5880"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/179727", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/179727/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Assisting our former Service personnel transition to civilian life is of major importance, as indeed is having in place a robust and effective resettlement system that helps our Service personnel on a number of levels.<\/p>
<\/p>
While the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not centrally record how much is spent on transitioning Service personnel to civilian life, the following table shows the number of individuals with a Northern Ireland postcode who have taken advantage of the services offered by the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and are in employment.<\/p>
<\/p>
CTP Programme<\/strong><\/p><\/td> BT Postcodes<\/strong><\/p> Placements<\/strong><\/p> in Northern Ireland <\/strong><\/p><\/td> BT Postcodes Placements<\/strong><\/p> Outside Northern Ireland or unknown location<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> Year <\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2012<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2013<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2014<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2012<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2013<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 2014<\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> Employment Support Programme<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 6<\/p><\/td> 3<\/p><\/td> 5<\/p><\/td> 4<\/p><\/td> 4<\/p><\/td> 5<\/p><\/td><\/tr> Full Support Programme<\/strong><\/p><\/td> 95<\/p><\/td> 130<\/p><\/td> 112<\/p><\/td> 76<\/p><\/td> 74<\/p><\/td> 89<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/p> BT postcodes placements outside NI or \u2018unknown location\u2019 \u2013 means individuals have recorded a NI address but their work location is outside NI (i.e. they may have a permanent residence in NI which they return to at weekends or holidays or they have not informed CTP of a permanent change of address)<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> The Employment Support Programme is for those who have served more than four but less than six years. These individuals do not receive the Individual Resettlement Training Costs Grant nor do they have an entitlement to Graduated Resettlement Time (i.e. paid time off for vocational training). However, they can take advantage of the many briefings available and they are supported in their search for employment by the CTP consultants and Job Finding Service, including access to the online jobs portal \u2018RightJob\u2019. They can also take advantage of resettlement training courses on a \u2018standby\u2019 basis in their own time.<\/p> <\/p> Service personnel who have served for six years or more are entitled to the Full Support Programme. This entitles them to the Individual Resettlement Training Costs Grant (IRTC) which is worth £534 per person.<\/p> <\/p> In addition, Service Leavers may claim Travel and Subsistence costs during their training; the amount of training is dependent on length of service up to a maximum of 35 days for those who have served for 16 years or more.<\/p> <\/p> The Joint Service Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) is the MOD\u2019s tri-Service focal point set up to provide Service personnel and their families with civilian housing information for those wishing to move to civilian accommodation at any point in their career, and to those during Armed Forces Resettlement to assist the transition to civilian life. Delivered through briefings, Housing Matters magazine publication, and one to one discussions where necessary. JSHAO also manages the MOD Referral Scheme supporting social housing in conjunction with Local Authorities and Housing Associations. The cost for providing advice is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3428", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Astor of Hever"}
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, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-03-03T17:15:04.39Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2015-02-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Veterans: Northern Ireland"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government how much has been spent to help members of the armed forces living in Northern Ireland with their transition back to civilian life in each of the last three years; and how much of that sum was spent on housing.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3801", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont"}
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, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Browne of Belmont"}
], "uin" : "HL5005"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/175030", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Defence"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/175030/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Department welcomed Lord Ashcroft's report on the review of the Armed Forces transition process. The report made 43 distinct recommendations; many are now in place either in full or in part. In response to his specific recommendations on an Armed Forces Champion in Northern Ireland, the Northern Irish Government announced last year that from April 2015, Local Authorities will nominate both a non-elected official and a councillor to membership of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association in Northern Ireland. The latter will also act as a local Veterans Champion.<\/p> In addition, the relationship between the Northern Ireland Aftercare Service and the Veterans Welfare Service has been strengthened and close working links developed with The Royal British Legion, Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association, Combat Stress and key charities in Northern Ireland.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3938", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Anna Soubry"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Broxtowe"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Anna Soubry"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-01-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-01-26T17:05:02.25Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "11"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Defence"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2015-01-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Veterans: Northern Ireland"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what response he has made to the recommendation in the Veterans Transition Review, published on 11 February 2014, that security-vetted armed forces champions should be appointed in Northern Ireland.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/650", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Jeffrey M Donaldson"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Lagan Valley"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson"}
], "uin" : "221490"}
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