By listening to the experiences of veterans and engaging with the public, private and voluntary organisations that represent them, I can make recommendations and observations that aim to help improve the support available to our veterans. Previous reports published by my office can be found here.

Download Veterans and Finance
Veterans and Finance

Financial stability is a hallmark of most veterans’ post-Service lives, enabling them to build futures for themselves and their families. However, for a minority, financial challenges can emerge, often exacerbated by the complexities of navigating civilian systems, particularly welfare and support services. This report seeks to shine a light on specific areas where veterans may encounter financial difficulties and where improvements can be made to ensure they receive the right support at the right time.

September 2025

Categories: Reports

Download Veterans and Finance
Veterans and Finance

Financial stability is a hallmark of most veterans’ post-Service lives, enabling them to build futures for themselves and their families. However, for a minority, financial challenges can emerge, often exacerbated by the complexities of navigating civilian systems, particularly welfare and support services. This report seeks to shine a light on specific areas where veterans may encounter financial difficulties and where improvements can be made to ensure they receive the right support at the right time.

June 2025

Categories: Reports

Download Community and Relationships: Anything but Uniform
Community and Relationships: Anything but Uniform

The purpose of this report is to reflect the experiences of the wider veteran community, seek to understand how well served all veterans and their families are by existing services, capture observations and findings, and make outcome focused recommendations to the Scottish Government to support continuous improvement for veterans and their families.

January 2024

Categories: Reports

Download Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Health and Wellbeing
Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Health and Wellbeing

Where health and wellbeing is concerned, too many still struggle to adapt and find it difficult to access and navigate health care in a less familiar civilian world that they may not have been a part of for some time. We know that can contribute to other problems, either soon after leaving or in later years and it can affect a whole family.

March 2022

Categories: Reports

Tags: Health

Download Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Housing: Making a Home in Civilian Society
Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Housing: Making a Home in Civilian Society

We have seen an improvement across many aspects of transition in recent years – including housing, which presents some unique challenges – but we are still not getting it right for everyone. We need to act now to build on improvements, especially for those vulnerable to a failed transition, who risk entering a cycle of homelessness and the knock-on effects of that. For most that’s entirely preventable.

June 2021

Categories: Reports

Tags: Housing Transition

Download Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Employment, Skills and Learning
Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland – Employment, Skills and Learning

This report focuses specifically on the areas of employment, skills and learning. It makes suggestions and broad outcomes-based recommendations to the Scottish Government and others, for improvements aimed at getting transition right to benefit the individual and their family as they transition and become veterans, living and working in Scotland.

December 2020

Categories: Reports

Tags: Employment Transition

Download Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland
Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland

Getting the right support or advice to the right person at the right time is a real challenge. Transition can be particularly harshly felt when so many aspects of an individual’s life change at the same time.

November 2019

Categories: Reports

Tags: Transition

Download Veterans Health & Wellbeing: A Distinctive Scottish Approach
Veterans Health & Wellbeing: A Distinctive Scottish Approach

Our assessment of where things currently stand and what the future might hold can be found throughout this report, alongside findings and recommendations aimed at the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland and their partners.

April 2018

Categories: Reports

Tags: Health

Download Veterans’ Health & Wellbeing in Scotland – Are We Getting it Right?
Veterans’ Health & Wellbeing in Scotland – Are We Getting it Right?

Are the needs of our veterans population properly understood and considered by those who work in health and social care? Do veterans face any disadvantages when accessing health and social care provision? Does the health system properly fulfil our obligations to those veterans with the most severe and enduring illnesses and injuries acquired as a result of their military service? Are the health outcomes of our veterans population as good as they can be?

August 2017

Categories: Reports

Tags: Health

Download The Veterans Community – Employability, Skills and Learning
The Veterans Community – Employability, Skills and Learning

Third report from the Scottish Veterans Commissioner advising Scottish Ministers on improving employment and learning opportunities for veterans in Scotland.

November 2016

Categories: Reports

Tags: Employment

Download Scottish Veterans Commissioner – Housing Information
Scottish Veterans Commissioner – Housing Information

Report on the Provision of Information on Housing for Service Leavers and Veterans in Scotland.

August 2015

Categories: Reports

Tags: Housing

Download Scottish Veterans Commissioner – Transition in Scotland
Scottish Veterans Commissioner – Transition in Scotland

In Scotland approximately 1800 men and women complete their military service and settle – many with their families - in our communities every year. As Scottish Veterans Commissioner, I have been asked by the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for veterans, Keith Brown, to investigate how this diverse group prepare for, and cope with, transition using the recent studies by Lord Ashcroft, Forces in Mind Trust and others as a baseline.

March 2015

Categories: Reports

Tags: Transition

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I’ve issued a joint statement with the Veterans Commissioners for NI and Wales on the current form of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. We continue to insist that the UK Government addresses the substantive issues we have raised on behalf of the veteran community.

Read more at the link in my bio - news and blogs 🔗
I’ve issued a joint statement with the Veterans Commissioners for NI and Wales on the current form of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. We continue to insist that the UK Government addresses the substantive issues we have raised on behalf of the veteran community. Read more at the link in my bio - news and blogs 🔗
21 hours ago
I welcome the publication of the new UK Veterans Strategy, which sets out a clear vision that veterans are celebrated for their service, their potential is fully realised, and the right support is in place to achieve this. 
 
It’s encouraging to see a stronger focus on outcomes and measuring impact, under the strategic themes of Celebrate, Contribute, and Support.
 
I am pleased that the Scottish Government will now develop a Strategy Action Plan to deliver this vision across Scotland - particularly in devolved areas such as health, housing, and justice. I look forward to continuing to support all efforts to improve the lives of veterans and their families across the country.

Read the full Strategy at the link in my bio 🔗
I welcome the publication of the new UK Veterans Strategy, which sets out a clear vision that veterans are celebrated for their service, their potential is fully realised, and the right support is in place to achieve this. It’s encouraging to see a stronger focus on outcomes and measuring impact, under the strategic themes of Celebrate, Contribute, and Support. I am pleased that the Scottish Government will now develop a Strategy Action Plan to deliver this vision across Scotland - particularly in devolved areas such as health, housing, and justice. I look forward to continuing to support all efforts to improve the lives of veterans and their families across the country. Read the full Strategy at the link in my bio 🔗
4 days ago
Today, I’ve published my new report on the support available to members of the military bereaved community.

Bereavement within the Armed Forces community is uniquely complex - shaped by service, sacrifice, and shared experience - and it’s vital that support reflects this.

Read the full report at the link in my bio 🔗
Today, I’ve published my new report on the support available to members of the military bereaved community. Bereavement within the Armed Forces community is uniquely complex - shaped by service, sacrifice, and shared experience - and it’s vital that support reflects this. Read the full report at the link in my bio 🔗
5 days ago
On Monday, I attended the opening of the exhibition Remembrance & Reconciliation at Edinburgh Napier University. It included a seminar which covered the history of Edinburgh’s Robin Chapel, and the efforts in Kutenholz, Germany, to honour everyone who died there in the Second World War, including Robin Tudsbery, in whose memory the chapel was built. 

We were treated to a moving performance by the chapel’s choir. It was truly special to see family members of British servicemen alongside the Kutenholz community, recognising their service and sacrifice.
On Monday, I attended the opening of the exhibition Remembrance & Reconciliation at Edinburgh Napier University. It included a seminar which covered the history of Edinburgh’s Robin Chapel, and the efforts in Kutenholz, Germany, to honour everyone who died there in the Second World War, including Robin Tudsbery, in whose memory the chapel was built. We were treated to a moving performance by the chapel’s choir. It was truly special to see family members of British servicemen alongside the Kutenholz community, recognising their service and sacrifice.
5 days ago
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