Restore Britain pledges a Department of Veterans' Affairs, with free prescriptions and dental care for veterans

Restore Britain would create a new Department of Veterans' Affairs, led by a Cabinet minister, so that one department is responsible for veterans and their families. It would also write their core rights into law in a statutory Veterans Charter.

That is the core of the party's new policy paper, "A Home Fit for Heroes: Putting Britain’s Veterans First", published on Friday 30th October.

The paper says veterans should have "one point of contact and the DVA will do the rest". Its pledges include:

- free prescriptions and NHS dental care for veterans

- free eye and hearing tests

- priority for social housing

- a funded retraining entitlement

- the right for some former officers to use their rank in civilian life

- legislation to end "malicious, repeated or evidentially exhausted" legacy cases against veterans

Rupert Lowe launched the paper on X at 09:32 GMT: "A very important Restore Britain policy paper.

"I am proud to launch 'A Home Fit for Heroes: Putting Britain’s Veterans First'.

"Outlining exactly how a Restore Britain Government will support our veteran community with robust policy proposals."

He added that "Restore Britain's @_HenryBolton, a veteran himself, explains the policy", in a video attached to the post.

In his foreword to the paper, Lowe writes: "Our veterans have earned more than our gratitude and remembrance. They have earned the pride of the nation and a debt of honour that society can never fully repay. They represent the very best of Britain."

The problem Restore wants to fix

The paper says the issue is not that veterans cannot cope with civilian life. It says that "when support is needed, responsibility is divided across different and often unconnected government organisations whose boundaries appear as an incoherent maze to most people".

It argues that the Armed Forces Covenant "only imposes a duty of 'due regard'", adding: "We do not believe that goes far enough. Our Veterans Charter will define legal minimum rights."

It also says veterans' affairs should not sit inside the Ministry of Defence: "A veteran, once discharged, is a civilian whose needs cut across health, housing, welfare, education, employment, and local government."

The main points

A new department

- A Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), headed by a Secretary of State for Veterans' Affairs who sits in Cabinet, separate from the Ministry of Defence.

- It would take over existing services rather than duplicate them. These include the Office for Veterans' Affairs, the VALOUR programme, Veterans UK's welfare and helpline services, the Veteran Card, and the Op ASCEND (employment), Op FORTITUDE (homelessness) and Op NOVA (justice system) programmes.

- The NHS and councils would still provide most services. The paper says the DVA "will own the funding, the national standards, the case-coordination system, and accountability".

A local Veterans Officer for everyone

- Every county and unitary council in England would have a DVA Veterans Office and a named senior Veterans Officer, with a named officer in every district or borough in two-tier areas. Equivalent arrangements would apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

- Officers would have legal powers to refer cases, require public bodies to respond, and escalate failures. Recruitment would focus on veterans and people from service families.

A statutory Veterans Charter

- Veterans' core rights would be set in law, replacing the "due regard" duty with "defined national statutory duties, specified entitlements, and minimum standards".

- It would cover former Regulars who completed basic training, and former Reservists after basic training plus one year of their trained-service commitment. People whose service was cut short for medical reasons would also qualify.

- The paper says the same standards would apply "across the entire United Kingdom, without exception", whatever the devolved arrangements.

Health, dental, eye and hearing care

- No prescription charges for veterans in England. Prescriptions are already free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

- No NHS dental charges for qualifying veterans anywhere in the UK. The paper says: "A charge exemption is of little value if the veteran cannot find a dentist. The DVA will therefore fund access." The DVA would pay private dentistry fees where NHS provision is unavailable.

- Free sight tests and a guaranteed free hearing test.

- These entitlements would also apply to spouses, partners and children up to 18, including bereaved families.

- Veterans would keep priority for service-related conditions, but the paper says no non-veteran "with a more urgent clinical need should be displaced or disadvantaged".

Housing

- A legal priority for veterans in social housing and homelessness systems across the UK.

- Councils led by Restore Britain would put veterans and qualifying bereaved families in "the highest reasonable preference category" as soon as practicable.

- Housing risk would be assessed before anyone leaves the forces. The paper says: "no service leaver will, upon departing the Armed Forces, become homeless because the MoD and civilian system has failed to plan."

Jobs and retraining

- One employment and skills service for veterans, available throughout their working life.

- A funded retraining entitlement, prioritising qualifications "linked to real labour market demand".

- Public bodies would be expected to recognise military qualifications and experience.

- A drive to recruit veterans into the emergency services, the Prison Service, Border & Coastal Command and Immigration Enforcement, with appointment remaining "on merit".

Using rank in civilian life

- Veteran Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers with at least six months on operations, recognised by a campaign medal, could use their rank in civilian life, written with "(Ret’d)".

Families and funerals

- Bereaved families would get a named DVA case officer.

- A new DVA grant towards the funeral of any veteran whose death was not caused by, and did not happen during, their service.

Legacy prosecutions

- New laws to stop "malicious, repeated or evidentially exhausted investigation, prosecution and litigation relating to Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq or any future conflict", and to bring such cases still under way "to an immediate end".

- The paper says: "Restore Britain does not propose general immunity from the law." Genuinely new and credible evidence could still be investigated and prosecuted.

- Lawyers who pursue a civil claim knowing or suspecting it to be malicious would be prosecuted. The paper says a Restore Lord Chancellor would have the Ministry of Justice review civil cases and refer them to the Solicitors Regulation Authority where appropriate.

How it would be delivered

- A Veterans Affairs and Charter Bill, published within the first 100 days.

- Changes phased in over 24 months:

- first 100 days: appoint the Secretary of State and begin transfers

- months 4 to 9: pilot local Veterans Officers

- months 10 to 15: national roll-out and housing priority

- months 16 to 24: prescription, dental and sight-test entitlements and retraining

- An annual Veterans Affairs Report to Parliament.

The figures in the paper

According to the paper:

- the United Kingdom has "more than 1.8 million veterans"

- the War Pension Scheme currently pays up to £2,200 towards funeral expenses where its conditions are met

- the new DVA funeral grant would be 30% of that cap, which is £660 at present

- it estimates the grant would cost £37,705,800 a year, an "illustrative" figure

- that estimate is based on 57,130 veteran deaths in England and Wales in 2021, a figure the paper attributes to the Office for National Statistics

- it describes the VALOUR programme as worth £50 million

The cost

The paper does not give an overall cost. It says existing budgets, such as VALOUR and Veterans UK, would move to the new department and are "not new costs".

It accepts that "there will be new costs", including the Veterans Officer network, the health-charge exemptions, free dental treatment, retraining, housing and funeral grants. It says these "will be costed separately". It also says a single headline figure "could be misleading" without data "to which Restore Britain is not privy".

Restore Britain promises to publish a fiscal annex before its manifesto. The paper says: "For now, the programme does not assume any savings."

In its conclusion, the paper says: "As they protected us during their service, so we will protect them in civilian life."

Image: Sergeant Steven Hughes RLC/MOD, OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons