§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures the Government have in place to care for ex-soldiers and servicemen who are homeless and suffering financial and emotional problems. [66361]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 3 July 2002]The Social Exclusion Unit's 1998 Report identified that between one quarter and one fifth of rough sleepers had been in the Armed Forces at some stage, predominantly some years before as National Servicemen. Since then, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been working in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Homelessness Directorate, (previously known as the Rough Sleepers Unit) and the charitable sector to improve care and support for acute cases of homelessness, and notably those already sleeping rough on the streets or at high risk of doing so.
The MOD has put in place new preventive mechanisms at pre-discharge, point of discharge and post-discharge to help vulnerable leavers make a more successful transition to civilian life. These and other measures taken by the Government and its partners have reduced levels of rough sleeping by some two-thirds, in line with the Prime Minister's target. Furthermore, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed that an interim analysis of rough sleeping data gathered in November 2001 shows that the percentage of rough sleepers with an Armed Forced background has decreased markedly since the 1998 SEU Report.
Medical care of ex-Service personnel with substantial emotional problems is the responsibility of the National Health Service (NHS) and the full range of treatments and psychiatric services is available. Those requiring psychiatric treatment may be treated as NHS patients at the Duchess of Kent's Psychiatric Hospital, subject to the nature of their medical condition and capacity though, if they reside outside the catchment area, their local Health Authority would have to meet the cost of treatment in accordance with NHS budgetary procedures.
The MOD has recently placed a research contract with Kings College London to help advise policy decisions to improve the delivery of cross-departmental support to veterans and to identify any areas of unmet need. This research will include interviews with key stakeholder organisations, such as Combat Stress.
629WThe Veterans Agency already makes payments to allow qualifying war pensioners suffering from psychological injury or illness to receive remedial treatment at Combat Stress centres.