Help for Heroes is calling upon all the major political parties to commit to maintaining the Office for Veteran Affairs (OVA) as a Government Department separate from the Ministry of Defence with a minister who attends Cabinet meetings.

In 2019, Help for Heroes, along with other veterans’ charities, successfully campaigned for the creation of OVA. We are asking that all future governments to commit to retain the vital branch of government, creating veteran focused policy and initiatives.

Why must we retain the OVA?

We believe the OVA is an effective tool in getting all Government departments to put veterans and their families at the heart of policy making. Furthermore, it has also been a driving force behind substantial veteran-focused policy initiatives since its creation, which would likely not have happened without its existence and independence from the MOD. Most notably, reinstating the Veteran Mobility Fund, the introduction of Veteran ID cards, and the creation of Op Fortitude.

The OVA has a modest annual budget of £5M plus a recent cash injection of £10M announced in the 2023 Spring Budget, to increase the service and engagement over the next two years.

Despite this the future of the OVA is not guaranteed, we need a firm commitment that any future government, of any political party, will maintain it and its independence.

What we’re doing

  • In 2023, we included this ask as one of our top priorities for veterans at the next General Election.
  • We have also met with MPs and officials from numerous political parties in support of the continuation of OVA.

Get involved in this campaign

All you need to do is select the button below and enter your contact details and postcode into the box. This will show you who your MP is and bring up a template letter for you to send. We’ve provided text to use in the template letter, but please, if you have time, do edit to make it more personal. MPs are more likely to take notice of personalised emails and queries.

Write to your MP

If you want more information on this campaign, please contact our Senior Public Affairs and Policy Manager Ted Arnold at ted.arnold@helpforheroes.org.uk

Read more about our campaigning

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