Oral Ministerial Statement by Gordon Lyons MLA Minister for Communities - Support for Veterans and their Families

Date published: 22 September 2026

I am committed to ensuring that veterans and the wider armed forces community receive the right support, delivered in the right way that will best meet their needs. As Minister for Communities, I have consistently affirmed my commitment to veterans and have translated this commitment into a suite of actions that will make a tangible difference to the lives of those who currently serve in our armed forces; those who have left active service; and their families.

Last November, the Assembly took an important and welcome step when it debated and passed a motion reaffirming that service leavers, veterans and their families should face no disadvantage in accessing public services.

That remains my objective for the Department for Communities, the remit of which touches on almost every aspect of people’s everyday lives and delivers a wide range of policies, programmes and services, including all important support to our citizens at key times when they most need it.

Our veterans have given so much through their service, and I am committed to ensuring that this sacrifice does not disadvantage them in accessing their entitlements.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme provides important support to serving and former armed forces personnel whose injury, illness or death is attributable to service. Specific social security provisions ensure that compensation payments, including lump sum awards and Guaranteed Income Payments, do not unduly impact entitlement to benefits.

My officials continue to work across government to identify opportunities to strengthen support for veterans, remove disadvantage for them and recognise their service and sacrifice.
As part of this commitment, my Department introduced legislation to ensure that payments made under the Ministry of Defence's LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme are disregarded indefinitely when assessing entitlement to specified means-tested benefits. The legislation also exempts these payments from the Department's compensation recovery arrangements, ensuring recipients receive the full value of their financial recognition payment. This helps ensure that receiving redress does not leave veterans or others at a disadvantage within the social security system.

I am resolute in my commitment to ensuring that any new scheme developed within my Department is viewed through the lens of the needs of veterans and their families. That is why I am also pleased to highlight that eligible veterans can benefit from the recently announced Home Heating Oil Support Scheme alongside the range of other support available to households across Northern Ireland.

On 26th May, in demonstrating my Department’s clear commitment to the Armed Forces community, I launched a dedicated Veterans’ Support Line for Northern Ireland. This service is the first of its kind across the United Kingdom and represents an important step forward in ensuring information and services are fully accessible to veterans and their families. The support line provides a telephone and text entry point to make the service as openly accessible as possible.

On contacting the support line, veterans will receive a free and confidential needs assessment, modelled on the existing provision through the Make the Call service.

This assessment will work with veterans to identify potential eligibility for benefits, support, and services. The model has been developed in close liaison with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to ensure a seamless handover should a housing query be received through the support line.

My officials engaged extensively with veterans’ representative organisations in preparation for ‘go-live’ to ensure that the model was developed in a way that addressed the barriers facing veterans in accessing services. Great attention to detail was paid to ensure the service was established on the basis of principles of confidentiality and sensitivity and informed by the awareness of challenges most impacting on veterans and their families.

Staff underwent a significant programme of veteran-specific training and worked with representative organisations in developing a collaborative approach and to facilitate soft handovers where necessary. Staff on the support line also received a high level of security clearance. It has been vital to get this service right so that veterans can benefit from a high quality, confidential and trauma-informed model of support – one in which they can have full confidence.

To date, 95 contacts have been received by the support line. This modest take-up is fully in line with expectations of a service of this nature and it will take time to continue to raise awareness and build confidence in the approach. To promote the Veterans’ Support Line, officials from my Department have participated in a series of roadshows organised by the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner’s Office. These events have provided a valuable opportunity to raise awareness of the service and engage directly with veterans, serving personnel and their families.

In addition, departmental officials attended Armed Forces Day events in Coleraine on 20 June, further supporting efforts to highlight the assistance available through the Veterans’ Support Line and to strengthen engagement with the Armed Forces community.

The impacts of the support line are already clear and each contact received from a veteran represents much more than a statistic. Each call answered has been reaffirmation of our commitment to veterans – to listen to them, seek to understand the challenges they face and provide advice and support in response. Each call answered is confirmation that we will meet them at their point of need and respond. Each call answered is a difference made to an individual and/or a family.

Looking ahead, my officials will continue to develop the programme of outreach to promote the Veterans’ Support Line, increase awareness of the assistance available, and extend our engagement with the wider Armed Forces community across Northern Ireland.

As Minister, I also continue to engage directly with veterans and their families in demonstrating my commitment to meeting their needs in the right way at the right time. Over the coming months, I will build on my engagement with the Armed Forces community through a range of events in partnership with the office of the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Commissioner and in identifying further opportunities where we can develop our policies and practice. It is in this spirit of partnership that I reaffirm my commitment to engaging, listening and acting on the views expressed through the lived experience of veterans, their representative organisations and their families.

Whilst the support line is a significant outworking of the Department’s programme of activity to remove disadvantage for veterans, wider activities are planned to ensure that other areas within the Department are equipped to meet the needs of those from the Armed Forces community.

Since May of this year, 48 members of staff within the Department have received veterans-specific training with a plan for a wider roll-out to Jobs and Benefits Office staff on a phased basis over the coming months. Feedback from this training has been positive with staff reporting an increased awareness of veterans’ issues and a greater confidence in dealing with veterans. This training is central to ensuring that my Department is well equipped and informed to address issues and challenges facing the veterans community and sending a strong message of delivery.

Additionally, I have brought forward a range of other actions to enhance wider engagement and co-ordination with Veterans and Armed Forces representative organisations to ensure the services we provide can meet their needs.

Notably, I have appointed a Senior Official at Deputy Secretary level as the Strategic lead for veterans’ issues within the Department. The Strategic Lead will act as a single point of contact for Veterans’ Support Organisations in relation to policy issues and will lead on strategic engagement with the veterans’ community. A Strategic Liaison Group has been established and has met twice since its inception in May of this year. The group comprises officials from across my Department and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive alongside the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Commissioner and representatives from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs and Veterans Services for Northern Ireland. This group will be a key mechanism in monitoring uptake of the Veterans’ Support Line, identifying any emerging policy issues and gaps in provision and developing a coherent approach to strategic engagement with the veterans community.

This will instil a strategic ongoing focus on veterans’ support within the Department; ensure that policies and services are informed by the lived experiences of veterans and their families; and promote a joined-up approach to service provision.

Collaboration with the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs is also supported through the development of a trusted partnership relationship where representatives can liaise directly with my Senior Officials on cases already in the system across a range of issues including housing, access to benefits and employability. Over the coming months, I will seek to expand and develop this approach.

From a housing perspective, my Department and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive are cognisant of the Armed Forces Covenant, ensuring that the Armed Forces community are treated fairly and receive the support they need in relation to social housing allocation, homelessness, and disabled facilities grants.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s (NIHE) approach aims to ensure that members of the Armed Forces community are not discouraged from seeking housing assistance and are able to access services without unnecessary barriers. It supports the principle that members of the Armed Forces community should face no disadvantage in accessing housing or homeless services.

Access to social housing in Northern Ireland is provided through the Housing Selection Scheme, which assesses applicants based on housing need within the statutory framework. Members of the Armed Forces community are assessed in accordance with the same legislative and policy framework as all other applicants.

Any household who presents as homeless will be assessed as per the Housing (NI) Order 1988. The NIHE works to assist all applicants through its Housing Solutions and Support service to find the best possible solution for their housing needs. All circumstances or needs, including those related to their service history, will be taken into consideration during the assessment.

We know that leaving the Armed Forces can create a real risk of homelessness, and the NIHE reflects that in its housing and homeless assessment process. Individuals can approach the NIHE in person, by telephone or by email to apply for housing and homelessness assistance. For those who may not meet all four statutory tests to be classed as a Full Duty Applicant homeless, the Housing Selection Scheme includes 50 points under the “Other Homelessness” category relating to leaving armed forces service accommodation.

The NIHE is a key partner within the Veterans’ Support Line and has established a dedicated hunt group for any queries emanating from the service. Designated NIHE staff have also received additional veterans-awareness training to ensure that individuals receive a fair service and are not disadvantaged by a lack of understanding of their context and experience.

As part of the application process, consideration will also be given to making a referral to the Veterans’ Support Line, which provides additional help beyond housing and for other relevant floating support referrals which may be of benefit to the applicant.

The NIHE continues to engage with the Department for Communities, the Veterans Commissioner, NIVCO and other key agencies in the delivery of the Veterans Support Line and is core member of the Department’s Strategic Liaison Group on veterans.

Earlier this year, I took the decision to disregard War Pensions from the calculation of income for the Affordable Warmth Scheme. Primarily this was because veterans were being treated differently from other disabled people whose disability related benefits were already excluded from the scheme income threshold. This ensures that the Affordable Warmth Scheme is aligned with other benefits and payments, including Discretionary Support Grants, Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and Home Improvement Grants.

Taken together, these actions demonstrate my Department’s commitment to upholding the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and ensuring that members of the Armed Forces community in Northern Ireland face no disadvantage when accessing the information and support they need.

The Department for Communities has led and is continuing to lead the way in delivering positive change for veterans. My Department remains steadfast in its commitment to continue to deliver with empathy and understanding, to work to level the playing field for veterans and to replace mistrust with confidence in services that are finally delivering the right support in the right way to meet veterans’ needs. I am committed to broadening and deepening this work so that more veterans and their families can benefit from the public services they deserve.
For those who have given so much, I commit to ensuring their contribution is met in some part by public services that meet them at their point of need and deliver with the respect, sensitivity and understanding they are due.

Thank you.