To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the housing minister has had with ministerial colleagues regarding support available for veterans at risk of homelessness. (S6O-03605)

The Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans attends the ministerial oversight group on homelessness, which I chair, in order to make connections across portfolios. The group last met on 5 June 2024, and it has met four times previously.

Working alongside the veterans minister, I am committed to raising the profile of veterans’ housing and homelessness at relevant meetings to ensure that stakeholders are aware of their obligations to provide veterans in Scotland with the best possible advice and support. I have had similar discussions with the Scottish veterans commissioner and veterans housing organisations.

Veterans often struggle to navigate the myriad support available to them, whether it be for homelessness, addiction or access to employment. Would the Scottish Government consider co-ordinating and documenting all the support that is available, to create a one-stop shop for veterans’ support?

I am happy to have a discussion about that with Maurice Golden. We have previously had discussions about housing options and organisations that do that job in Edinburgh. I am happy to pick that up for other parts of Scotland and to see what we can do on that issue.

Following Poppy Scotland’s successful count them in campaign, census information on the number of veterans in Scotland has recently been published for the first time. How does the Scottish Government plan to use that information to better support veterans, including through preventing homelessness?

The inclusion of a question on veteran status in the census for the first time marked a significant step forward in developing the evidence base on veterans in Scotland and their characteristics. In conjunction with our annual national homelessness statistics, officials will analyse the census outputs, which we will use to consider how we continue to support veterans and their families. A further update on our work to use emerging evidence to understand more about the circumstances and needs of veterans will be provided in the veterans minister’s next annual update to the Parliament.

Question 2 is from James Dornan, who joins us online.