Debate contribution: Support for Veterans and their Families

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 22 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Gordon Lyons
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 22 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution (made as a minister)
Business: Ministerial Statement
Heading: Support for Veterans and their Families
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5739164

Text

Today, I wish to set out the range of actions that my Department is taking to support veterans and their families. I am committed to ensuring that veterans and the wider armed forces community receive the right support, delivered in the right way, that will best meet their needs. As Minister for Communities, I have consistently affirmed my commitment to veterans and have translated that commitment into a suite of actions that will make a tangible difference to the lives of those who currently serve in our armed forces, those who have left active service and their families. Last November, the Assembly took an important and welcome step when it debated and passed a motion reaffirming that service leavers, veterans and their families should face no disadvantage in accessing public services. That remains my objective for the Department for Communities, the remit of which touches on almost every aspect of people’s everyday lives and delivers a wide range of policies, programmes and services, including all-important support to our citizens at key times when they most need it. Our veterans have given so much through their service, and I am committed to ensuring that that sacrifice does not disadvantage them in accessing their entitlements. The armed forces compensation scheme provides important support to serving and former armed forces personnel whose injury, illness or death is attributable to service. Specific social security provisions ensure that compensation payments, including lump sum awards and guaranteed income payments, do not unduly impact on entitlement to benefits. My officials continue to work across government to identify opportunities to strengthen support for veterans, remove disadvantage for them and recognise their service and sacrifice. As part of that commitment, my Department introduced legislation to ensure that payments made under the Ministry of Defence's LGBT financial recognition scheme are disregarded indefinitely when assessing entitlement to specified means-tested benefits. The legislation also exempts those payments from the Department's compensation recovery arrangements, ensuring that recipients receive the full value of their financial recognition payment. That helps to ensure that receiving redress does not leave veterans or others at a disadvantage in the social security system. I am resolute in my commitment to ensuring that any new scheme developed in my Department is viewed through the lens of the needs of veterans and their families. That is why I am also pleased to highlight that eligible veterans can benefit from the recently announced home heating oil support scheme, alongside the range of other support available to households across Northern Ireland. On 26 May, in demonstrating my Department’s clear commitment to the armed forces community, I launched a dedicated veterans’ support line for Northern Ireland. That service is the first of its kind across the UK and represents an important step forward in ensuring that information and services are fully accessible to veterans and their families. The support line provides a telephone and text entry point to make the service as openly accessible as possible. On contacting the support line, veterans will receive a free and confidential needs assessment modelled on existing provision through the Make the Call service. The assessment will work with veterans to identify potential eligibility for benefits, support and services. The model has been developed in close liaison with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to ensure a seamless handover should a housing query be received through the support line. My officials engaged extensively with veterans’ representative organisations in preparation for go-live to ensure that the model was developed in a way that addressed the barriers facing veterans in accessing services. Great attention to detail was paid to ensure that the service was established on the basis of principles of confidentiality and sensitivity and informed by the awareness of challenges most impacting on veterans and their families. Staff underwent a significant programme of veteran-specific training and worked with representative organisations in developing a collaborative approach and to facilitate soft handovers where necessary. Staff on the support line also received a high level of security clearance. It has been vital to get the service right so that veterans can benefit from a high-quality, confidential and trauma-informed model of support in which they can have full confidence. To date, 95 contacts have been received by the support line. That modest uptake is fully in line with expectations of a service of this nature, and it will take time to continue to raise awareness and build confidence in the approach. To promote the veterans’ support line, officials from my Department have participated in a series of roadshows organised by the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner’s Office (NIVCO). Those events provided a valuable opportunity to raise awareness of the service and engage directly with veterans, serving personnel and their families. In addition, departmental officials attended Armed Forces Day events in Coleraine on 20 June, further supporting efforts to highlight the assistance available through the veterans support line and strengthen engagement with the armed forces community. The impacts of the support line are already clear. Each contact received from a veteran represents much more than a statistic. Each call has been a reaffirmation of our commitment to veterans: to listen to them and to seek to understand the challenges that they face and provide advice and support in response. Each call answered is confirmation that we will meet them at their point of need and respond. Each call answered is a difference made to an individual and/or a family. Looking ahead, I confirm that my officials will continue to develop the programme of outreach to support and promote the veterans support line, increase awareness of the assistance available and extend our engagement with the wider armed forces community across Northern Ireland. As Minister, I will also continue to engage directly with veterans and their families in demonstrating my commitment to meeting their needs in the right way and at the right time. Over the coming months, I will build on my engagement with the armed forces community through a range of events in partnership with the office of the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and in identifying further opportunities where we can develop our policies and practice. It is in that spirit of partnership that I reaffirm my commitment to engaging, listening and acting on the views expressed through the lived experience of veterans, their representative organisations and their families. Whilst the support line is a significant outworking of the Department's programme of activity to remove disadvantage for veterans, wider activities are planned to ensure that other areas in the Department are equipped to meet the needs of the armed forces community. Since May 2026, 48 members of staff in the Department have received veteran-specific training, with a plan for a wider roll-out to jobs and benefits office staff on a phased basis over the coming months. Feedback from that training has been positive, with staff reporting increased awareness of veterans' issues and greater confidence in dealing with veterans. The training is central to ensuring that my Department is well equipped and informed to address issues and challenges facing the veteran community, thereby sending a strong message of delivery. Additionally, I have brought forward a range of other actions to enhance wider engagement and coordination with veterans and armed forces representative organisations to ensure that the services that we provide can meet their needs. Notably, I have appointed a senior official at deputy secretary level as the strategic lead for veterans' issues in the Department. The strategic lead will act as a single point of contact for veterans' support organisations on policy issues and will lead on strategic engagement with the veterans community. A strategic liaison group has been established and has met twice since its inception in May 2026. The group comprises officials from across my Department and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive alongside the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and representatives from the Office for Veterans' Affairs and veterans' services for Northern Ireland. The group will be a key mechanism in monitoring uptake of the veterans support line, identifying any emerging policy issues and gaps in provision and developing a coherent approach to strategic engagement with the veteran community. That will instil a strategic, ongoing focus on veterans’ support in the Department; ensure that policies and services are informed by the lived experiences of veterans and their families; and promote a joined-up approach to service provision. Collaboration with the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and the Office for Veterans' Affairs is also supported through the development of a trusted partnership relationship whereby representatives can liaise directly with my senior officials on cases that are already in the system across a range of issues including housing, access to benefits and employability. Over the coming months, I will seek to expand and develop that approach. From a housing perspective, my Department and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive are cognisant of the armed forces covenant, ensuring that the armed forces community is treated fairly and receives the support that it needs in relation to social housing allocation, homelessness and disabled facilities grants.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive's approach aims to ensure that members of the armed forces community are not discouraged from seeking housing assistance and are able to access services without unnecessary barriers. It supports the principle that members of the armed forces community should face no disadvantage in accessing housing or homeless services.
Access to social housing in Northern Ireland is provided through the housing selection scheme, which assesses applicants on the basis of housing need within the statutory framework. Members of the armed forces community are assessed in accordance with the same legislative and policy framework as all other applicants. Any household that presents as homeless will be assessed as per the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988. The Housing Executive works to assist all applicants through its housing solutions and support service to find the best possible solution for their housing needs. All circumstances or needs, including those related to their service history, will be taken into consideration during the assessment. We know that leaving the armed forces can create a real risk of homelessness, and the Housing Executive reflects that in its housing and homelessness assessment process. Individuals can approach the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in person, by telephone or by email to apply for housing and homelessness assistance. For those who may not meet all four statutory tests to be classed as a full duty applicant homeless, the housing selection scheme includes 50 points under the "Other Homeless" category relating to leaving armed forces service accommodation. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is a key partner in the veterans support line and has established a dedicated hunt group for any queries emanating from the service. Designated NIHE staff have also received additional veterans-awareness training to ensure that individuals receive a fair service and are not disadvantaged by a lack of understanding of their context and experience. As part of the application process, consideration will also be given to making a referral to the veterans support line, which provides additional help beyond housing, and for other relevant floating support referrals that may be of benefit to the applicant. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive continues to engage with the Department for Communities, the Veterans Commissioner/NIVCO and other key agencies in the delivery of the veterans support line and is a core member of the Department's strategic liaison group on veterans. Earlier this year, I took the decision to disregard war pensions from the calculation of income for the affordable warmth scheme. That was primarily because veterans were being treated differently from other disabled people whose disability-related benefits were already excluded from the scheme income threshold. That ensures that the affordable warmth scheme is aligned with other benefits and payments, including discretionary support grants, universal credit, housing benefit and home improvement grants. Taken together, those actions demonstrate my Department's commitment to upholding the principles of the armed forces covenant and ensuring that members of the armed forces community in Northern Ireland face no disadvantage when accessing the information and support that they need. The Department for Communities has led and continues to lead the way in delivering positive change for veterans. My Department remains steadfast in its commitment to continue to deliver with empathy and understanding; to work to level the playing field for veterans; and to replace mistrust with confidence in services that are finally delivering the right support in the right way to meet veterans' needs. I am committed to broadening and deepening that work so that more veterans and their families can benefit from the public services that they deserve. For those who have given so much, I commit to ensuring that their contribution is met, in some part, by public services that meet them at their point of need and deliver with the respect, sensitivity and understanding that they are due. I commend the statement to the House.
My desire is to make sure that everybody is treated in the same way. My actions have ensured that, for example, people who are disabled and are members of the armed forces community are not treated any differently from anybody else. The Member mentioned another situation. In that scenario, members of the armed forces community will be treated in the same way as the others whom he mentioned. I know that there is some disagreement on what that treatment should look like, but I am trying not to give preference to anybody. On each specific issue, everybody, no matter their background, be they a civilian or a member of the armed forces community, will be treated the same.
I am trying to make sure that no one is disadvantaged specifically because of their service. I also have a legal obligation, however, to give due regard to the issues, because the armed forces covenant is in place in Northern Ireland. I therefore have specific responsibilities in that regard. We deliver our policies on the basis of need, but what I am ensuring is that no one is disadvantaged because of their service and that people are treated fairly and equitably. That is something that everybody should be in favour of.
I very much welcome the work that the Government are doing on the Armed Forces Bill, which will extend the duties and responsibilities of public authorities, including the devolved Administrations, under the armed forces covenant. In the first instance, it will be for the Executive to support a legislative consent motion's coming to the House. The LCM should be tabled by the First Minister and the deputy First Minister. I have spoken to the deputy First Minister, and she has no objection whatsoever to an LCM's being tabled. I hope that the First Minister will also recognise the importance of the issue. The First Minister has been very clear that she is a "First Minister for all". She has frequently talked about the importance of equality and parity, and I hope that that will extend to everybody in Northern Ireland, including members of our armed forces community. If she truly is a "First Minister for all" and wants to make sure that people are not disadvantaged because of their service in the armed forces, I hope that she will do the right thing and allow an LCM to go through the Executive and then come to the House, as that would ensure that people are treated fairly and without disadvantage.
I hope that the Member will be pleased to hear that funding for the training has come from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. It is really welcome that that funding has been provided at no cost to the Department. Had there been a cost, I would have been happy to pay it in order to ensure that people got the support that they needed. That training has not come at any cost to the Department, however, and I look forward to its being rolled out further so that more people can understand what needs to be done. I recognise how important it is for veterans and their families to feel safe and confident when accessing the support line. Staff have received specialist training on the issues and challenges that veterans face. Furthermore, staff have the appropriate level of security clearance so that we can protect confidentiality and build trust and confidence for those who use the service.
Absolutely. I can confirm that to the Member. I understand how sensitive the issue is. I also understand that, in these early stages, we still detect some reluctance to pick up the phone, to make the call, because veterans are unsure what will happen if they mention their circumstances to somebody at the other end. That was one of the primary reasons that we put the phone line in place and have ensured that staff have been trained. The Member will understand that I cannot go into the detail of it, but I assure him that everyone has received an appropriate level of security clearance as well. One of the reasons that I wanted to give the statement to the House today was so that I could explain that and give answers to questions such as the one that the Member asked. I want to ensure that there is confidence in what we are doing. I want people to feel that they can come forward. We care and we want to make sure that everybody is treated equally. That is what I am doing through this, and I hope that other Members in the House will send that message back: it is something that can be trusted and something that we can have confidence in, so, please, call the line and use the other resources that are available, because that will help to make a difference to our armed forces community across Northern Ireland.
That is a considerable number of people. I do not have those specific figures with me, but I am happy to provide that information to the Member. Again, this is about equality. It is about people being treated fairly and ensuring that we have the staff in place who understand the needs of specific groups. That is why I have introduced the hotline. That is why we are doing training and extending that training, and I will follow up and provide the Member with that information.
Yes, absolutely. Just as a reminder, the Armed Forces Act 2021 introduced a legal duty on certain public bodies to make sure that we have "due regard" to the principles of the armed forces covenant. We cannot pick and choose which laws we wish to follow. When there is a duty on us to have due regard, we have to follow that. We have to make sure that we are doing what is required of us in legislation. The Armed Forces Bill will ensure that additional duties are placed on a number of other areas. Transport will be one of them, so the Department for Infrastructure needs to get ready to make sure that it has all its bases covered and knows what will be required of it. I have gone further than what is currently required under legislation because it is the right thing to do and I want to make sure that I completely fulfil my responsibilities under the armed forces covenant. That will soon extend further. It will extend to here, so it is right and proper that Ministers get prepared for that, but they should not have had to be forced into it. They should be adhering to those principles already.
One reason that there is reluctance among members of the armed forces community to use the Make the Call service or other advice or support services is because they are worried about revealing their employment history and being open about their service. People should never be fearful or ashamed of doing that in any way, but they are made to feel that way by some people in Northern Ireland. The service has been set up to make sure that there is a space for people to call, knowing that those on the other end of the phone have the appropriate training and security clearance for them to be able to talk about their individual circumstances with confidence. Those were some of the messages that we got from veterans, representative organisations and the Veterans Commissioner's Office. That is why we have put it in place and clearly why there has been an uptake that has gone up in the past few weeks. I have no doubt that it will continue to go up as that confidence is built.
First, as I said, I have a legal duty to make sure that I have due regard to the principles of the armed forces covenant, so I am following what the law requires me to do. Making sure that people are treated equally is also the morally right thing to do. On the other issues that the Member has raised, he will know, as he is now on the Communities Committee, that extensive work is being done on the anti-poverty strategy in particular to make sure that we do not just have a document that sits on a shelf but one with measures that will make a difference. I have listened to some of the concerns that people have expressed on that, and, unfortunately, more work needed to be done. That work is progressing. The Member raised the LGBT strategy. One reason that it has stalled is that we do not have agreement in the Chamber on some of the most fundamental principles of what would be in that strategy. There is huge disagreement, as we have seen only in the past few weeks on so-called conversion practices and the difficulties with that. We will struggle in the time that is left in the mandate to get something that commands the support of the House. I am doing what I can right now on this issue. Rather than making sure that one group is prioritised over another or gets special treatment, I am making sure that everybody is treated fairly. I hope that, as a new Member, he will go to the First Minister and say, "You say that you are the 'First Minister for all' and that you are here to represent everybody equally in Northern Ireland. Therefore, let us debate the legislative consent motion on the Armed Forces Bill on the Floor, so that we can demonstrate that not just with words and rhetoric but with action". I leave that challenge with him.
I am grateful to the Member for that question. I confirm that any payments from the armed forces compensation scheme will be fully disregarded when assessing entitlement to universal credit. That approach also applies to war pensions payments. The first £10 of a war pensions payment or armed forces compensation scheme award that is made due to injury or disablement is disregarded when assessing entitlement to pension credit.
That has absolutely no relevance to the statement in front of us. Why does she not ask questions about people's equality and how they have been treated? Why does she not ask questions about how we can better support our armed forces?
She had the opportunity to ask the questions; it is now my turn to answer
She may not like the answer that I am giving, but perhaps she could give me the respect of allowing the question to be answered. If she was here last evening, she will have heard the concerns that I had about Mr Gildernew's Bill. She will shortly hear from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and others about the issues that we have with it. My offer to Mr Gildernew to work together on it stands. The fact that the Member asked a question that bears no connection to the subject at hand says more about her and her party's approach to the matter. I put the challenge to her that I put to Mr Boggs: if she is so concerned about equality and people being treated fairly, will she support the legislative consent motion for the Bill? She has set herself up as someone who cares about equality and fairness, so is she prepared to do that? Is she prepared to —?
I think that I am referring to her in the right way. Is "the Member for Mid Ulster" more appropriate? I put a challenge to the Member for Mid Ulster: will she encourage her fellow Member for Mid Ulster to allow that Bill to come before the Chamber so that we can vote on it? All that we have seen from her today is distraction.
Yes, absolutely. I pay tribute to the Veterans Commissioner for the work that he has done and how he has invested in the issue. I also thank the staff who support him and the groups and organisations that he has brought together to be such powerful advocates on the issues that matter. I encourage others in the Executive to engage with him to better understand those needs. The Minister of Education has commented about what he is doing on this in his Department. Much can still be done in other Departments, including the Department of Health. We have a new Health Minister, and I hope that good engagement will begin there soon, because many of the issues are faced by people who also have health needs. It is important that we have appropriate liaison there as well and bring forward proposals that ensure that we not just keep the law but properly adhere to fulfilling the principles espoused in the armed forces covenant.
I certainly have no concern about any individuals. Nothing like that has been brought to my attention. The Member asked specifically about individuals: I do not have that information with me now, but, if we can, we will furnish him with it.
Yes, absolutely. I thank all the organisations that have been involved in promoting the line and those that we are able to refer to if there are specific issues that do not come under the Department's remit. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with them. The ability to help and deliver for our veterans does not lie with one Department alone or even with government alone; there are other organisations that can help. I am committed to ensuring that we have good working relationships so that we can provide the support and assistance needed. There is an incredible support network here, including organisations and charities that do brilliant work. I have had the opportunity to meet many of them. They are trusted, which is why so many members of our armed forces community use the services that they provide. I want to make sure that government can be trusted as well. That is why I have put in place that specific service. I encourage the Member to promote it to others. As he will be aware, we have many veterans and members of the armed forces community in our constituency. I hope that they, too, will avail themselves of that service.
There has been extensive collaboration not just with members of the armed forces community but with many of their representative organisations and, obviously, the UK Government. I was pleased to host an MOD Minister in Northern Ireland earlier this year, as well as representatives from other Departments. There has been a high level of collaboration. I hope that that will continue, because, as I said in my answer to Mr Stewart, the issues cannot be dealt with in isolation. I want to make sure that there is a community of support, including charities, organisations, representative groups and the Northern Ireland Executive. It is important that the Armed Forces Bill pass so that those duties can be extended. It is not just the current responsibilities that need to be dealt with; we also have new areas coming in, such as social care, childcare, employment, personal taxation, benefits, criminal justice, immigration, citizenship, pensions, compensation and transport. I hope that people wake up to the fact that that support is needed and will support the Bill. I am not sure about anybody else in Mid Ulster, but I am glad that the Member has proudly declared that he is my friend today. I hope that he will follow up on that later as well.
I have already stated that the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is helping to fund the ongoing training. I am glad that that has happened and hope that it will continue. I have been able to manage it within my Department's current staffing resource by reallocating some members of staff to that work. However, those who have been trained will still have the responsibility and the ability to work in other areas of the Department as well. Cost should not prohibit us from making sure that people are treated fairly, but that has been manageable. I am glad that we are able to do that, because it is the right thing to do.
No, she was not. She was wrong. I hope that the First Minister will correct the record on that one. It is clear that the Armed Forces Act introduced a legal duty to have due regard to the principles of the armed forces covenant.
Let me be clear: the armed forces covenant applies in Northern Ireland. I am doing the work that I am doing because I want to make sure that it applies equally. It applies in law, and I want to ensure that the Armed Forces Bill will apply here so that the benefits that service personnel in the rest of the UK will get will also apply here. The responsibility is not simply for the UK Government; we have responsibilities here. As Ministers within the United Kingdom, there is a responsibility on me, on Michelle O'Neill and on every other Minister. We cannot pick and choose which responsibilities we take on.
That is exactly why I am doing the work that I set out in my statement and why my Department is working with the Housing Executive to make sure that those particular issues that people face, which still present a barrier, can be addressed. That work had not been progressed before I came into post, but I made it a priority. As a result, we will see the positive changes that are needed. That does not mean that we will get it right all the time, but the point of the work that I am doing is to raise awareness in people's minds and make people aware of the issues that veterans face. The training that will take place in the Housing Executive will contribute to solving the problem that the Member referred to.
I do. I thank the Member for setting that out in the way that he did. We need to make sure that people are not disadvantaged because of their service and the circumstances that they face or because of the time that their service may have taken them out of the country and what that might have done to their housing situation, or because of whatever else. It is important that we ensure that there is no disadvantage. That is what we are trying to do through the responsibilities that are placed on us by the armed forces covenant. I welcome the statement that the Member made.
We will be doing work to analyse that. In the meantime, I can tell the Member that, so far, many of the calls that we have received have related to benefit entitlement. I hope to have fuller information on that and will consider how that could be published. I want to be careful because of sensitivities and confidentiality. We are trying to build up people's confidence to call and will need to be careful about anything that could potentially identify someone. I still believe that it should be possible to publish that information, but I am giving that caveat because I want to make sure that we do not do anything that affects people's confidence in calling the system. I will be happy to keep the Member updated on that.
Yes, I will be happy to do so. I appointed a senior official in my Department as strategic lead. That is evidence of my ongoing commitment to leading on delivery for veterans across my ministerial portfolio and to ensuring that there is a continued strategic focus on removing disadvantage, where it exists. The strategic lead is the lead point of contact in the Department for strategic policy issues relating to veterans, ensuring that any issues that impact on veterans and their families are routed effectively. The role also includes responsibility for leading the Department's strategic engagement with veterans and representative organisations. The strategic lead chairs the newly established strategic liaison group, which comprises representatives from DFC, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and veterans' representative organisations, including the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner's office, the Office for Veterans' Affairs and Veteran Services Northern Ireland.

5,508 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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