For those of you who were on holiday and missed it, on 29 July the Prime Minister announced the creation of an Office for Veterans’ Affairs inside the Cabinet Office.
It is to be staffed by officials from the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence (and others as necessary) to deliver an holistic approach to veterans’ affairs. This is the first time that veterans’ affairs will be overseen by dedicated ministers in the Cabinet Office to ensure the whole of government pulls together to provide life-long support for veterans.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Oliver Dowden, will represent veterans’ issues at Cabinet, and lead the OVA alongside Veterans Minister, Johnny Mercer. The idea is that the OVA will coordinate existing funding and hold other parts of government to account for delivering the Armed Forces Covenant and action on mental and physical health, education, employment and veteran homelessness.
