To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of setting up the Office for Veterans Affairs.

At the last Spending Round the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that £5 million is being made available for the Office for Veterans' Affairs in 2020/2021. The costs of setting up the Office for Veterans' Affairs were met from existing budgets in the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence, and included time from existing staff.

Furthermore, this does not represent the totality of government spend to support veterans. For example, we recently announced an additional £10 million to support veterans' mental health and wellbeing needs.