08 Jan 21. Defence Committee Evidence Session Announcement. Defence to hold session on mental health of Armed Forces and Veterans. On Tuesday 12 January, at 14.30, the Defence Committee will hold a follow up session on Armed Forces and Veterans’ Mental Health, reflecting on any updates since the Committee’s reports on mental health were released in the last parliament. The session will seek information on the mental health treatment available for veterans and members of the Armed Forces and examine whether the Ministry of Defence and other Government Departments have improved their performance in this area since the report.
The session will focus on whether additional challenges of the pandemic have been met, as well as the provision and diagnosis of, and treatment for, Traumatic Brain Injury.
This session follows two reports in the last parliament, the first focusing on the scale of mental health issues, and the second addressing the provision of care.
Tuesday 12 January, 14.30:
Panel 1
- Mandy Bostwick, Specialist trauma psychotherapist
- Dr Gary Green, Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, University of York
Panel 2
- Sue Freeth, Chief Executive, Combat Stress
- Sarah Jones, Head of Psychological Wellbeing, Help for Heroes
- Meagan Levin, Policy Officer (Welfare and Employment), Royal British Legion
07 Jan 21. The Committees on Arms Export Controls will hold an oral evidence session with ADS on Tuesday 12 January 2021. The meeting will be held virtually and can be watched live here. The Committees will take evidence from:
At 10.00am:
- Peter Everitt, Chief Executive, ADS
Topics to be covered at the session include:
- Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2019;
- The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the licencing system;
- The work undertaken by the Department for International Trade and the Export Control Joint Unit as a result of the Appeal Court judgment in June 2019; and
- Consequences of Brexit for arms export controls, including potential deviation from the existing EU-based ‘Consolidated Criteria’ rules and the implications of the Northern Ireland Protocol.