7. How is the Welsh Government supporting armed forces personnel in Wales? OAQ(5)0593(FM)

Whilst responsibility for serving armed forces personnel lies with the UK Government, we have made clear in our programme for government our commitment to support serving personnel and their families so that they are not disadvantaged by their service.

Thank you. My further question is more about the wider armed forces community. Earlier this year, at their request, I, with Andrew R.T. Davies, met a group of women veterans, all of whom have suffered injuries on service and all of whom told us they were also dealing with mental health issues as a consequence of their service. How do you respond to the concern they expressed to us—and I’m quoting them—that ‘with more and more veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan it’s now taking three months to get an appointment with Veterans’ NHS Wales then three to six months to see a specialist and then they can only deal with mild to medium trauma because there are no acute services, and they’re having to travel to England for treatment for their mental health and rely on charities’?

If the Member writes to me with more detail on that, I will of course investigate. But generally, we have produced a ‘Welcome to Wales’ booklet, specifically for serving personnel and their families while living in Wales. It gives information on the support and services available in one place. They include free swimming, of course, across all 22 local authorities, a fast-track referral pathway for specialist healthcare, an enhanced flexible childcare offer, and of course access to education. We work pretty closely with organisations such as the Royal British Legion as well, to make sure that we give the veterans who have given so much what they deserve when they are living in Wales.

First Minister, the children of service personnel who have been posted overseas are in danger of receiving a patchy education. In postings where there is no official school provision, these children are sent to international schools, which may not follow a set curriculum. As a result, the children may be ahead in some areas and behind in others. What is your Government doing to ensure that children of service personnel who have attended international schools are fully assessed and receive additional support if needed?

The Supporting Service Children in Education project within the WLGA has been funded through the European social fund since 2014 to mitigate issues of mobility and deployment. That project has produced a guide for parents of service children about the Welsh education system, and for teachers on supporting service children. The latest resource to be produced by this project is the digital stories resource, which was launched at the end of last year. In addition, the MOD has operated the education support fund, although we understand that that funding will come to an end next year. The Cabinet Secretary for Education has written to the MOD, asking them to explain that position.