Focus on the North East

Councils in the region are coming together to scrutinise the help and support available to veterans, writes Cllr Robin Todd.

We are reminded of the great sacrifices made by our armed forces and their families by the daily reports of casualties in Afghanistan.

In the North East, a process began late last year to look at how we can improve the way our public services meet the health needs of those leaving the services – looking in particular at the support provided to those who are vulnerable.

We quickly realised that it was essential that the health scrutiny committees in the region came together to take this work forward. We therefore decided to set up a regional joint committee of all 12 health scrutiny committee chairs in the North East. Supported by our officers and the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS), we successfully completed this task in March (and nominations from each of the authorities to this committee are now nearly complete).

Health and wellbeing

Our examination of the issues for the ex-services community could now move forward to the next stage, with support from the CfPS and Local Government Improvement and Development (formerly the IDeA) to become a scrutiny development area.

Councillors felt an ‘overview day’ was a key stage in initiating the review. This took place in Durham City in June, with a range of speakers from government departments, the armed forces, the Royal British Legion, the regional strategic health authority, a director of adult services, and many others.

Councillors will now be looking at different issues affecting veterans, including physical health, mental health, and socioeconomic wellbeing issues. These working groups will be engaging directly with ex-services personnel and their families, with the help of groups such as the Royal British Legion and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association.

As we began to look at these issues, we researched the current situation and discovered that hard facts are not always available – and evidence can be contradictory.

There is no general database of veterans’ health statistics, and even the number of veterans is uncertain – with estimates ranging from 3.8 million to 5 million in England.

The location of veterans is unknown.The Ministry of Defence does not keep central records of where service personnel are recruited, where they go on leaving the services, or where they move to subsequently.

Over half (52 per cent) of the ex-services community report having a long-term illness or disability, compared with 35 per cent in the general population, and suicide rates are also higher.

On leaving the services, veterans can sometimes struggle with the transition back into civilian life. Some have alcohol and drug problems, relationship problems and – too often – contact with the criminal justice system. Mental health issues can be significant.

As I and my colleagues have been approached directly by veterans with their stories of the struggle to get the support they feel they need, I sincerely hope that we can make a difference. I hope our report and its recommendations – due out in December – will help deliver improvements in health services for this large and little understood group.

In my view, the scrutiny approach is really well suited to looking at this type of issue. Councillors, acting as a ‘critical friend’ and drawing on existing research and information, can look at an issue and challenge those who are planning and providing services to our community on its behalf.

I would wish the coalition government to ensure that this type of local challenge to service providers is able to continue in future, as part of the changes outlined in the recent health white paper, ‘Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS’.

• Cllr Robin Todd (Lab) is chair of Durham county council’s adults wellbeing and health scrutiny committee