Guidance

VAPC London: meeting minutes 17 June 2026

Updated 17 September 2026

Venue: Department for Work and Pensions, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2BS with some members joining using Microsoft Teams

Time: 4pm to 5.30pm

Present 

Robin Herzberg (FRH) – Chairman

Victoria Bell (VB)

Andrew Collins (AC) (co-opted)

Bishnu Gurung (BG)

John Halliday (JH) (co-opted)

Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE (CSPH)

Ally Musthan (AM) (Co-opted)

Larry Stone (LS)

Frances Luczyc Wyhowska (FLW)

Apologies 

Jim Blake (JB)

Caroline Flynn Macleod (CFM)

Annabel Goulding (AG)

Charles Perrett (CP)

Alpa Raja (AR)

Alex Woolgar-Toms (AWT)

Welcome 

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

He also congratulated AR on being awarded the British Empire Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Apologies for absence 

It was noted that JB, CFM, AG, CP, AR and AWT were unable to attend.

Minutes of 18 March 2026 meeting 

The minutes which had been circulated were approved and were ready to be sent to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for publication.

Action: FRH 

Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

Report to the minister

FRH reported that a new Minister for Veterans and People, Calvin Bailey, had been appointed on 13 June 2026. CFM and FRH had previously met with Mr Bailey in his capacity as a London Member of Parliament and FRH reported that he had written to the new Minister to congratulate him on his appointment.

CH commented that the engagement with the new Minister with London VAPC set a most welcome tone for the future of the VAPCs nationally.

FRH reported that the VAPC chairs had decided to alert the minister to current issues on a more dynamic basis. Following a discussion on 11 May 2026, the London VAPC had advised Stewart Blackburn of the following current concerns: (i) the unacceptably long delays in processing compensation claims, and the unacceptably high number of cases still under consideration (ii) the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill and (iii) the need for Op Valour to have sufficient resources in place to replace the recent cutbacks in face-to-face engagement by military charities, especially for veterans in crisis. Stewart wrote to the Minister on 30 May 2026 referring to these three issues, together with the need to rebuild relationships with councils where there has been political change.

It was agreed that an ad hoc group of such members of the committee as were available should meet in July to discuss the next list of current concerns which would be due for submission in mid-August. It was also agreed that, as far as possible, this meeting should be held in person.

Co-opting new members

FRH proposed and FLW seconded that Siobhan Birbeck, who was a Community Builder for Help for Heroes, be co-opted. This was agreed.

FRH reminded the committee that his own term as chair of the London VAPC had expired on 25 April 2026 and he was therefore in attendance and chairing the meeting on a co-opted basis.

FRH reported that on 29 April 2026, he was advised by officials at the Ministry of Defence that they had now agreed to submit potential candidates to the Minister for Veterans and People for consideration for ministerial appointments to the VAPCs. FRH confirmed that he had nominated all three of our current co-opted members (Andrew Collins, John Halliday and Ally Musthan) and they were under consideration. He confirmed that he would also nominate Siobhan Birbeck.

Statutory instrument

FRH reported that, although a working group had been established to draft the statutory instrument needed to implement the provisions in the VAPC Act 2023, the former minister, Louise Sandher-Jones, had not indicated any intention to expand our role and therefore there was no current need for a new statutory instrument.

Strategy development

FRH reported that there had been no progress on strategy development.

Performance data

FRH reported on recent data relating to the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). WPS relates to injury, illness, or death before 6 April 2005 and AFCS relates to injury, illness or death after that date.

The committee again expressed strong concerns about the length of time it was taking to get claims processed.

FLW suggested writing to John Healey MP and Al Carns MP to seek their help to secure more resources to resolve this issue. FRH agreed to put the suggestion to the other VAPC chairs.

Action: FRH 

Reports from the common interest groups

FRH reported that LS, FLW and himself continued to represent the committee on the Employment and Transitioning Common Interest Group (‘CIG’). AR continued to represent the committee on the Health CIG. Meanwhile, JB continued to represent the committee on the Housing CIG, and AWT continued to represent the committee on the Veterans and the Law CIG. FRH reported that the CIGs were being reactivated and that volunteers were welcome.

Working from the Greater London Authority and London boroughs

FRH reported that he had met with Chas Ryan, Head of supported Housing and Armed Forces Champion at the London Borough of Havering on 6 May 2026.

Working with military charities

FRH reported that he had met with Ed Macfarlane, Head of Healthcare and Wellbeing at WeServed on 16 April 2026. WeServed is a commercial digital platform for the use of veterans.

FRH reported that he had also met with Siobhan Birbeck, Community Builder i.e. Community Liaison Officer for Greater London for Help for Heroes on 24 April 2026. Help for Heroes provides healthcare support and counselling for veterans and their families.

FRH reported that he had also met with Billy Kelly, Head of Armed Forces at the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, on 28 April 2026.

FRH reported that he had also met with Collette Beeson, operations manager at Defence Medical Welfare Service (‘DMWS’), on 27 May 2026. DMWS is an independent charity providing medical welfare to serving military personnel and veterans.

FLW reported that she had met with ‘Give us Time’, a charity offering respite breaks for veterans and their families.

FLW reported that she had also recently met with Tony Hulton, Chief executive of “Walking with the Wounded”, a charity supporting veterans on their transition to civilian life, and Jilly Carrell, founder of “Beyond the Wire”, a charity supporting bereaved military families.

FLW reported that she had also met George Freeman MP who was hosting the soft launch of Beyond the Wire’s bereavement hub at the House of Commons, an event attended by serving and ex armed forces personnel, representatives of all parties from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and a wide range of stakeholders.

FRH reported that he continues to attend the drop-ins at St Pancras Hospital monthly and that FLW, JH and himself had been attending the quarterly London Armed Forces Network (‘LAFN’) meetings.

Working with the Greater London Reserve Forces and Cadets Association

LS reported that, because of illness, the proposed meeting with the Greater London Reserve Forces and Cadets Association continued to be deferred.

Any other business

FLW reported that the Abbado European Young Musicians Trust, of which she and AC were trustees, would be giving a grant to the London College of Music, part of the University of West London, to support a study into how music might be used to help the mental health of veterans.

FLW also reported that Imran Khalil, founder of “The Fighting Chance” had recently launched a project for female veterans who want to take part in boxing.

JH reported that the employment programme, Op Ascend, which is managed by the Forces Employment Charity, was bringing in a new model, which would be place based, to provide more effective support for veterans.

Date of the next meeting

It was agreed that the next scheduled meeting would take place at 4pm on 16 September 2026 at the Department for Work and Pensions in London or by videoconference.