Edinburgh council chiefs slammed by Lothian Veterans Centre boss over 'lack of support'

Dalkeith-based charity calls for more support from City of Edinburgh Council

A charity boss has launched a stinging attack on City of Edinburgh Council chiefs, claiming they are failing the military veterans they should be supporting. The criticism came after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed the only support the council provides to army veterans is £109,000 a year to the Scottish Veterans Residences (SVR), which offers supported housing for former members of the UK Armed Forces who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Ian Stewart, CEO of Lothians Veterans Centre, believes the council’s funding of services for veterans is a “disgrace” and called the local authority hypocrites for “not putting their money where their mouth is”. He said: “City of Edinburgh Council is quite secretive about how much money they spend on veterans and where it goes – now I know why. I asked the question of the council and got no response. I had to make a FOI request to have it revealed.

“The council makes a huge play of its connection with the armed forces community, with the city war memorial situated outside the City Chambers. And, in the chambers main reception area there is a Victoria Cross on display and there are many old military pictures on the chamber walls. The fact the council spends such a tiny amount of its billion-pound budget on veterans when it has spent years identifying the need for help for veterans is a disgrace. They are not showing much support. They should put their money where their mouth is.

Stock photo of Lothians Veterans Centre, Dalkeith L-R Derek Clark, Project Officer for Action on Hearing Loss Scotland. Alex Galloway of Lothians Veterans Centre and veterans Jim Archibald and John Hood. Neil Hanna Photography

“In 2019 the then Lord Provost and Armed Forces Champion Councillor Frank Ross launched his Lord Provost’s Commission: The Strategy for Our Ex Forces Personnel. It was full of high-ranking military officers and it took almost three years to report. Lothians Veterans Centre gave evidence to the commission and in its conclusions, it said its ‘recognised priorities include the need for further development of drop-in centres based on the Lothians Veterans Centre model’. Now, SVR does very good work but housing was only one of three areas that the Commission identified where some veterans need support, the others being education, training and employment, and health and wellbeing."

Lothians Veterans Centre is a drop-in centre in Dalkeith that supports veterans and their families with help on health and wellbeing, provides comradeship and peer support, and can give advice on pensions, benefits, employability and housing among other subjects. This winter it has opened as a warm space to help combat the cost of living crisis, providing free hot soup and filled rolls under its ‘Heat, a Seat, and Something to Eat’ programme. Ian is angry that his charity receives no funding from the council in Edinburgh, despite it benefiting army veterans from the Capital.

He said: “About a third of our service users come from Edinburgh to our centre, because there is no equivalent service in Edinburgh. Following the publication of the Commission’s report I wrote to the new Lord Provost and Armed Forces Champion, Councillor Robert Aldridge saying I was grateful for the recognition, and suggested Edinburgh Council might contribute some funding for the services that its citizens were receiving.

“Midlothian Council is absolutely great to deal with and give us a grant to keep the centre open. I was hoping for something similar from the much bigger and richer Edinburgh. I got a response from an Edinburgh official giving me three names and email addresses I should try. The only one who responded just said it was nothing to do with them. I wrote back to the official detailing the response I had received but got no response. I wrote again some months later. I got a response from the same official and a meeting was set up with the One City Trust. At that meeting it became clear that because we are based in Dalkeith in Midlothian we were not eligible to apply. I wrote back to the first official telling them this. I asked what funding there was for supporting military veterans that Edinburgh provides, but again received no response. So I submitted this Freedom of Information request.”

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “As signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant we are committed to showing our support for service personnel, veterans and their families. The covenant is a national responsibility involving government, businesses, local authorities, charities and the public. We will continue to work with our partners in order to provide the best possible assistance for service personnel, veterans and their families”.