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SVC publishes annual progress report 2025

Scottish Veterans Commissioner Publishes Annual Progress Report Highlighting Decade of Progress

Scottish Government urged to maintain focus on health and homelessness

The Scottish Veterans Commissioner (SVC) has today published her annual assessment of the Scottish Government’s progress in improving support and services for Scotland’s veterans and their families.

The report evaluates progress against a number of recommendations, made by the SVC office and dating back to 2015, which the Scottish Government has committed to implementing. The Scottish Government has also accepted all of the recommendations in the most recent Veterans and Finance report and progress against those will be assessed next year.

For the first time, the assessment finds that no recommendations have been rated as red (not implemented). This indicates that work is underway across almost all the areas under review, with activity now covering a wider range of policies and services than in previous years. The report also highlights that a number of actions are now embedded as business as usual.

Scottish Veterans Commissioner Susie Hamilton said:

“It is encouraging to see clear evidence of progress across a range of policy areas. While this is welcome, I remain focused on ensuring that activity translates to meaningful outcomes for veterans and their families.

Assessing progress in employment, skills and learning opportunities for the veteran community, the report notes continuing work to support spouses and partners, as well as Early Service Leavers, who may face particular challenges in the labour market. The continued development and embedding of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework tool on My World of Work, which helps veterans translate their military qualifications for the civilian job market, was also highlighted as a positive step.

The Commissioner commented:

“A meaningful civilian career for members of the veteran community is one of the most important elements of a successful transition and it’s encouraging to see ongoing work in this area. However, I remain keen to see a more formalised structure to provide strategic leadership and direction in employability, skills and learning. Stronger oversight and clearer collaboration across public, private and third sector partners are needed to drive sustained improvement.”

For the first time, this year’s assessment included recommendations from the 2024 Community and Relationships: Anything But Uniform report, which explores the diversity of the veteran community and spotlights the needs of those whose voices are less often heard.

The Commissioner said:

“Initial work is underway to ensure under-represented groups in the veteran community are identified in their engagement with statutory services. Encouraging services to be veteran aware is an important first step in recognising the valuable contribution of the veteran community and ensuring their needs are met. While this is a promising start, progress remains at an early stage and much more will be required if the intended outcomes are to be achieved.”

Health and wellbeing has remained an SVC priority since the introduction of the role, and the delivery of the final outstanding recommendations from the 2018 Health & Wellbeing report represents a significant milestone. However, take up of the GP Recognition Scheme launched in November 2023 has been much lower than expected.

The launch of the Veterans In-Service Injury Network (VISIN) last month was hailed as a welcome step towards creating dedicated pathways of care. However, the Commissioner cautioned that its value will depend on consistent implementation across Scotland and the delivery of measurable improvement in outcomes for veterans.

Similarly, the Veterans Mental Health Pathway (VMHP), identified as a concern in last year’s report, was praised for steady progress towards implementation over the past year, but the need for continued momentum to deliver the pathway was emphasised.

The Commissioner added “Timely access to appropriate support, treatment and care for veterans should be built into all services. No veteran should be disadvantaged by their service, and ensuring equity of access remains a fundamental priority. That is why I am so disappointed at the poor uptake of the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme, which has the potential to make a positive contribution to that ambition. I encourage continued efforts to increase the numbers of GP Practices who participate.”

In the area of housing policy, progress on the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Pathway (VHPP) was highlighted as poor last year. Though it has since received renewed attention, it still requires a faster pace and greater scale of delivery to meet reasonable timescales.

The Commissioner commented:

“The Veterans Mental Health Pathway and the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Pathway remain crucial to supporting some of the most vulnerable members of the veteran community, therefore it’s pivotal that attention continues to be focused in these areas.

“That notwithstanding, this report marks an important juncture, reviewing a decade of work with the earliest recommendations dating back to 2015. While challenges remain, it is encouraging that this year, for the first time, progress has been recorded against every extant recommendation.”

“I will continue to monitor progress closely and work with the Scottish Government and its partners to ensure commitments are delivered in a way that drives real and lasting change for veterans and their families in Scotland.”

The full 2025 progress report is available here: Scottish Veterans Commissioner | Annual Progress Report 2025.