SNP government not doing enough to support veterans, warns top commissioner

Scottish Veterans Commissioner Susie Hamilton says she is disappointed in the “limited” progress that has been made when it comes to support and services for veterans and their families.

She said there has been a “low level of activity” in areas such as healthcare, housing and employment, and says a lot of the progress that has been made in the last year has been done by voluntary organisations rather than the government.

The commissioner also said there is concern at how long it has taken the government to implement the veterans’ mental health and wellbeing pathway.

She said: “While there has been some headway made, it is a muted picture overall and that is disappointing.”

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Ms Hamilton added: “I welcome that the new local housing strategy guidance issued in March 2026 contains an expectation that local authorities will give consideration to the needs of the armed forces and veteran community, including spouses, partners, children and the bereaved, when developing their statutory local housing strategies.

“However, there has been minimal progress on implementing the veterans’ homelessness prevention pathway. The establishment of a working group would bring rigour and focus to this work - which is long overdue.”

She also reiterated concerns she raised last year about a lack of leadership and direction on veteran employment, and said: “This is an area where there has been limited progress and I hope that the findings in my recent report on ‘veterans and employment’ will support further action - as I believe harnessing the experience, skills and qualifications of the ex-service community, including partners and spouses, presents a real opportunity.”

Another criticism the report levels at the government is the low number of GP practices registering with a scheme to help them recognise the specific needs of veterans.

The commissioner said: “I continue to hear from the veteran community that their service and specific needs are not well understood when they require primary healthcare.

“The GP recognition scheme was launched in 2023 to address this. However, sign up remains inadequate at around 5 per cent of GP practices registering with the scheme.

“More attention and resource has been directed towards the roll-out - this needs to lead to a considerable increase in registration over the coming year.”

Overall, the report says the government needs to go faster and update policy and legislation to make sure veterans and their families are being properly supported after they leave the armed forces.

Ms Hamilton added: “This progress report comes at an early stage of this government but what it shows is that more progress at a faster pace is going to be required to make Scotland the destination of choice for service leavers, veterans and their families.

“The forthcoming extension of armed forces covenant legislation to new policy areas also reinforces the need for continued effort towards providing fair treatment for those who have served our country so well, and to the families whose support is the backbone of that service.”

Veterans Minister Jamie Hepburn said: “Scotland’s armed forces community deserve our utmost respect and recognition.

“I welcome the Scottish veterans commissioner’s most recent annual assessment and we will consider its findings as we drive forward measures to support the veterans and armed forces community including continued delivery of our veterans strategy action plan.”