Welsh Conservatives Debate: An Armed Forces Commissioner
To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish an Armed Forces Commissioner.
15:50
Janet Finch-Saunders
Recent conflict has proven that the war to end all wars that killed over 40,000 Welsh soldiers was anything but. In this, the centenary year of the first world war, it is critical that we use the prominence of our past to make a difference to our serving and ex-serving armed forces personnel today.
In Wales, there are currently 5,000 regular service personnel, 3,000 reservists and 220,000 veterans. As a nation, Wales provides around 8% of all armed forces recruits and each year 24,000 people leave the British armed forces, yet they, along with those currently serving, need and deserve much more support and easy access to services than is currently the reality.
We support the armed forces community covenant and the Welsh Conservatives aim to bring forward proposals for an armed forces card. We must legislate, empower and negotiate tangible ways to support the returning or retired service personnel.
Of the UK's ex-service community, 52% suffer long-term illness, disability or infirmity in comparison with 35% of the general population. More than 1,000 veterans have been treated by Veterans’ NHS Wales, but there are still those who face huge difficulty in accessing mental health care, housing solutions and other services, which are so readily available to others.
The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among those deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or even both, has been found to be 20% higher than that of the general population. In addition, alcohol misuse is three times more common. Veterans of direct combat in Afghanistan and Iraq with PTSD are 53% more likely to commit a violent crime than those in non-combat roles. Mental health problems related to combat have been attributed to many of the suicides of the 21 serving soldiers and 29 veterans—and that was in 2012 alone.
We warmly welcome the announcement of the £100,000 increase to the NHS veterans fund to tackle mental health pressures, but we need to ensure that this is not a one-off. I would urge the Welsh Government to listen to the recommendations of the Royal British Legion, which recommends that all veterans are offered treatment for mental health problems within eight weeks of referral and by practitioners who understand their needs.
It is alarming that 52% of those who leave service life early are only still in work after just six months. The Welsh Government must act quickly to provide some retraining opportunities to our brave men and women. However, I ask the Minister: how are you going to implement this? The recent shift in focus of your future training schemes means that they are so often focused on the very young.
Forces Watch has noted a strong link between PTSD and homelessness. One in 10 rough sleepers in the UK were ex-service personnel. In addition to the impact of PTSD, the Royal British Legion has identified the serious shortage of affordable housing in Wales as a reason for the statistic. The Welsh Government should follow the lead of the Scottish Government, because it has provided £1 million to build 38 new homes for physically and psychologically disabled ex-service personnel.
Following the last strategic defence review, with a larger burden placed on reservists and the inevitable redundancies of regulars, we can expect to see all these pressures surrounding help for our current and ex-service personnel increase.
Scottish Minister for Transport and Veterans, Keith Brown, has announced a Scottish veterans commissioner to be established to champion the interests of ex-servicemen and servicewomen, with a remit to work with service charities, local authorities and health boards to identify any areas in public services that might provide greater support to veterans, and to help shape future policy development and opportunities. We need to ensure that Wales has a commissioner with a remit to address the concerns of not only veterans, but the wider military community. They could prioritise issues such as health, employment and housing, and take further steps to generally improve the lives of our serving and ex-serving military personnel.
We have come a long way in the last century, since world war one, when shell-shock was seen as cowardice and punishable by firing squad. We must do more to help our sailors, soldiers and airmen and airwomen of past and present. Look at how we have led the way here with the establishment of a children’s commissioner. Let us lead the way again and, please, let us legislate for an armed forces commissioner here in Wales.