Homelessness among military veterans in England has risen by 14% in the last year despite a government pledge to ensure no former armed forces personnel are on the streets this Christmas.
Last year UK ministers announced more than £8.8m to fund hundreds of supported housing places that had faced closure, marking the launch of a scheme called Operation Fortitude.
The scheme is supposed to enable veterans at risk of homelessness to access supported housing and wraparound specialist care in health, accommodation and education.
But 2,110 households with someone who served in the armed forces were assessed as homeless in 2022-23, according to figures from the Department of Housing, up from 1,850 last year.
Labour analysis of the figures shows 500 veterans’ households are being made homeless every three months.
This year the veterans affairs minister, Johnny Mercer, said if former soldiers were still homeless by the end of 2023, he would “want to know why… [as] we’ve gone out, secured the money, designed the programmes … I’ve worked hard on this”.
On Thursday, in an op-ed for LBC radio’s website, Mercer said 400 veterans had been housed through Operation Fortitude but added: “I know that we need to do more to spread this support throughout the country. As a new year approaches, my dedication to this cause will not falter.”
The shadow veterans minister, Steve McCabe, criticised the government. “Labour is deeply proud of our armed forces personnel, veterans and their families for the enormous contribution they make to our country. But they are being let down by this government,” he said. “After 13 years of Conservative failure, ministers have created a postcode lottery for veterans, and halved employment support, and more veterans are homelessness this year than last year.”
This month it was revealed that one in three service personnel were living in grade-four single living accommodation, the lowest rating given by the Ministry of Defence.
The shadow armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, has launched a Homes Fit for Heroes campaign to highlight the poor state of armed forces accommodation.
If Labour gets into power it pledges to incorporate the Armed Forces Covenant into law to make sure that former personnel have better access to quality, affordable, homes.
Mercer said the use of food banks was a personal decision for some people and not an accurate measure of levels of poverty across the UK. He argued that food banks remained a lifeline for “some dire cases” but that it was not correct to say people used them only when they had no choice.
Cost of living pressures have reportedly affected serving military personnel and their families, who are turning to the estimated 2,500 food banks operating in the UK.
A government spokesperson said: “We are immensely grateful to all our veterans for their service in defence of our nation. This government is committed to ending veteran rough sleeping. That’s why we have provided up to £8m to fund Operation Fortitude, which veterans at risk of homelessness can use to access hundreds of supported housing places and wrap-around specialist care in health, housing and employment.”
