Veterans Affairs committee  Those figures would be for the Service Personnel & Veterans Agency as part of the MOD, as an agency providing those services. They also provide pension services and advice to veterans. I can only guess that this is where that expenditure comes from. Veterans and veterans' health are provided for within the NHS services more generally.

Veterans Affairs committee  This is throughout England. I have a small amount of funding, which works out to £1.5 million per year to fund these 10 teams. It doesn't go too far once you split it down to 10 teams, but we gain the critical mass, if you like, within those teams by working very closely with Combat Stress, the charity.

Veterans Affairs committee  We're in very early stages. The last of the teams came into being at the back end of last year and early this year, so it's a bit of a rolling program getting those up to speed. Early indications are that veterans are able to access care faster than they would through other National Health Service avenues.

Veterans Affairs committee  It is very vague because it's still quite early days for that part of the program.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would suggest that's probably more for the Ministry of Defence than the Service Personnel & Veterans Agency to answer, as the Service Personnel & Veterans Agency, or SPVA, is part of the MOD rather than the department I work for, the Department of Health. Certainly, as a government department that has to have a close working relationship with the Ministry of Defence, I also have a close working relationship with the SPVA.

Veterans Affairs committee  There's no protocol in answer to that part of the question. The requirement for those who will be in receipt of armed forces compensation or war pension...then they can certainly make reference to that in accessing the health services. That will particularly help them access some of the services we put in place specifically for veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  We have taken the work in relation to veterans' mental health quite some way over the last two years, or over the last four years, actually. But it's only over the last two that there has been real progress made. Any veteran will of course have access to the National Health Service mental health services in any event.

Veterans Affairs committee  I was briefed to be brief.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely. You'll be familiar with the way in which health care is provided here in the UK, which is obviously free at points of need. One of the things we identified some years ago—four or five years ago when I came into this work—was the difficulty of those who had been seriously injured being discharged from the armed forces and then facing what's been described as a cliff edge in relation to care.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely fine.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll just say I'm Dave Rutter, sir. I head the armed forces and veterans' health team here in the Department of Health. I lead a very small team here, but we work very closely with NHS England with regard to delivering the programs and services that we provide. It's important to note that this is England and not the U.K.