Chair

Councillor Mark Horsham

Members present

• Councillor Davie Cullen, Veterans Champion, North Lanarkshire Council
• Archie Aitken, Lead Officer for Veterans Issues, North Lanarkshire Council
• Gordon Bow, Lead Officer for Veterans Issues, South Lanarkshire Council
• Catherine Johnstone, North Lanarkshire Council
• David McAllister and Andy MacIntosh, SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity
• Lynne Wyllie, Administration Assistant, South Lanarkshire Council
• Dr Maria Gascon, NHS Lanarkshire, Veterans First Point
• John Dunn and June Weir, Skills Development Scotland#
• Ian Forsyth, Royal British Legion
• Major Iain Ross, 6 SCOTS
• Bob Reid, Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS)
• Audrey Cuthbertson, Armed Services Advice Project (ASAP)
• Emma Gration, Outreach Officer (Scotland) BLESMA
• Anne Murdoch, DWP (Hamilton Job Centre)
• Sandra Thomson, DWP (Motherwell Job Centre)
• Kevin Goodwin, Welfare Manager, Veterans UK
• Jan Gordon, DWP SWS Armed Forces Champion, Kilmarnock VCP
• Gordon Surgeon, British Training Board
• Mark Carter, Aartic Training Services
• Carolyne Mitchell, Digital Team Leader, South Lanarkshire Council
• Stuart Roberts, Office of the Lieutenancy

Apologies

• Leanne Bonnar, The Forces Employment Charity
• Shaun Cauvin, Veterans Scotland
• Kenny Cumming, Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS)
• Steve Burton, BLESMA
• Kim McClair, VC Hub

Chair’s opening remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and wished everyone a Happy New Year.

The Chair intimated how pleased he was about how well the Firm Base had grown over the past year and how encouraging it was.

Outcome(s): Position noted

Note of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting of the Firm Base held on 25 September 2019 were submitted for approval as a correct record.

Outcome(s): Minutes approved

Mental health presentation

Dr Maria Gascon, Service Lead, Veteran’s First Point updated the Group on Veterans First Point (V1P). V1P was a close partnership between veterans, NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and the Lanarkshire Association for Mental Health (LAMH). V1P also accepted referrals from across Health and Social Care, including the voluntary sector as well as self-referrals.

V1P was developed by veterans for veterans and staffed by an alliance of clinicians and veterans.  The service they provided was free and part of the NHS. They also provided:

•  information and signposting
• understanding and listening
• support and social networking
• health and wellbeing

V1P had specialists in mental health and psychological disorders. They had consultant psychiatrists, consultant psychological therapists and consultant psychologists. They offered a selection of evidenced based pharmacological and psychological interventions.

V1P had 6 centres across Scotland serving veterans in their local area and were located in Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Fife, Lanarkshire, Lothian and Tayside.

Outcome(s): Presentation noted

Lanarkshire Firm Base website update

Carolyne Mitchell, South Lanarkshire Council provided a short demonstration on the Lanarkshire Firm Base website. Carolyne advised that there was still a great deal of work to be carried out in order for the website to go live. Several organisations had provided information, however, more detail/photographs were still required. It was agreed that Carolyne would visit organisations/veterans to retrieve more information for the website. Major Ross would provide photographs and anonymous case studies would also be included. Before going live, it was hoped that veterans could test the website to see how accessible it would be. It was hoped that the website would go live prior to, or around, Armed Forces Day in June 2020.

Outcome(s): Presentation noted

British Training Board

Gordon Surgeon, Career Development (North) British Training Board and Stuart Roberts, Director of Training, Aartic Training Services, gave a joint presentation on the British Training Board and how it recognised the skills that veterans had gained during their time in the Armed Forces and how they could complement those qualities and provide support to transfer their skills into qualifications relevant to the civilian workforce. They offered assistance through their programmes to all serving personnel and veterans and assisted them in in enhancing their careers.

Outcome(s): Position noted

Updates from partners

• David McAllister, SSAFA advised that in 2019 SSAFA had paid out £282,000 in awards to veterans and their families, which had been the largest amount paid out in a year to date
• Jan Gordon, East Ayrshire Employer and Partnership Manager, Department for Work and Pensions, advised the Group that there had been money set aside for every district in the country. By April 2020, they would have an Armed Forces Champion in every district who would work more closely with existing veterans and new recruits
• Kevin Goodwin, Welfare Manager, Veterans UK advised the Group that they responded to referrals from the Armed Services Advice Project (ASAP), SSAFA and V1P. Very few veterans were not aware of Veterans UK. A claim with Veterans UK usually took between 8 and 12 months
• Major Iain Ross, 6 SCOTS advised the Group about the upcoming 75th Anniversary of VE Day Events in May 2020. The main events in Scotland were the Legion Scotland’s big event in Edinburgh and an Army led event in Glasgow which would aim for large scale participation from the wider community, but probably not marching troops
• Audrey Cuthbertson, Armed Services Advice Project (ASAP) updated the group about the outstanding and effective help that was available to all veterans and how many areas wished they had something similar to Lanarkshire Firm Base
• Stuart Roberts, Office of the Lieutenancy agreed that the website was an excellent idea and confirmed that Lady Haughey, Lord Lieutenant fully supported the work of the Lanarkshire Firm Base
• Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS) continued to provide its services in Lanarkshire and were based at Wishaw General Hospital and funded by South Lanarkshire HSCP until 1 July 2020. Going forward, DMWS had entered into a strategic partnership with the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA). This was an initiative that started in NHS England headed up by General Lord Richard Dannatt, Patron of the VCHA and former Head of the British Army, and Professor Tim Briggs, National Director of Clinical Improvement for NHS England to accredit acute hospitals across the UK as ‘veteran aware’. The aim was to develop, share and drive the implementation of best practice that would improve armed forces veterans’ care, whilst at the same time also raising standards across the NHS for all users. In outline, the initiative would:
  •  provide medical welfare in every VCHA accredited hospital in the United Kingdom
  • by having a DMWS Welfare Officer in each accredited hospital, enabled the VCHA accreditation scheme to come to life, ensuring dynamic connections locally in order to better support the psychosocial needs of the armed forces community
  • raise awareness of the needs of veterans and be part of the programme for delivering Armed Forces’ Awareness training
  • help deliver on the Scottish Parliamentary objective ‘The Strategy for our Veterans’ especially around collaboration between organisations and coordination of Veterans’ Services

DMWS would update on progress at the next Firm Base meeting.

• Emma Gration, Outreach Officer (Scotland), BLESMA updated the Group on the work that BLESMA undertook. This was the first time that they had been represented at a Firm Base meeting. BLESMA was for limbless veterans and helped all serving and ex-service men and women who had lost limbs, or lost the use of limbs or eyes, to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their programmes allowed their members and their families to face the challenges ahead with renewed confidence and self-belief. BLESMA provided a network where members not only enjoyed support from a professional Welfare Team, but where they had the opportunity to engage with others who had similar injuries and backgrounds, building an important fellowship with each other to overcome everyday battles
• Councillor Cullen, North Lanarkshire Council advised that, following his correspondence with COSLA, North Lanarkshire Council had passed a motion asking COSLA to set up a specific COSLA Policy Forum for Veterans. Councillor Cullen advised that he would update the Firm Base on any developments coming from COSLA in this regard. Councillor Cullen also spoke about the upcoming 75th Anniversary of VE Day and how both councils would be holding their own events. It was noted that events would be held nationwide
• Councillor Horsham advised that Cleland Sneddon was the new Chief Executive for South Lanarkshire Council. Councillor Horsham would arrange a meeting with him to provide an update on the work of Lanarkshire Firm Base.

Outcome(s): Position noted

Forward dates of next meeting

It was agreed that future meetings of Lanarkshire Firm Base be as follows:

• Wednesday 6 May 2020 at 2pm at North Lanarkshire Council
• Wednesday 23 September 2020 at 2pm at South Lanarkshire Council
• Wednesday 20 January 2021 at 2.00pm at North Lanarkshire Council

Outcome(s): Agreed

AOCB

Councillor Horsham advised the group that Gordon Bow, Administration Manager, South Lanarkshire would be retiring in mid-March and thanked Gordon for all his hard work and effort in establishing Lanarkshire Firm Base. Councillor Horsham and the members of the group wished Gordon all the best for his retirement.

 Gordon thanked Councillor Horsham and wished Lanarkshire Firm Base every success in meeting their future objectives.

 Outcome(s): Position noted