Support for UK Veterans
This briefing paper details the support available to armed forces veterans in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

An overview of the rules and payment arrangements for Cost of Living Payments.
Cost of Living Payments: Overview and FAQs (510 KB , PDF)
One-off Cost of Living Payments for recipients of certain benefits were first announced in May 2022 and were paid in the second half of that year. In the November 2022 Autumn Statement a further package of Cost of Living Payments was announced, to be paid over the course of the 2023/24 financial year.
Cost of Living Payments are additional cash payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (and HM Revenue and Customs and the Ministry of Defence) to recipients of certain benefits and tax credits throughout the UK. The payments made in 2022 and being repeated in 2023/24 are:
The Household Support Fund allows local authorities in England to make discretionary payments to people most in need to help towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. It has been allocated funding in tranches since October 2021. The latest allocation of £1 billion (including allocations for devolved governments to use as they see fit) for the 2023/24 financial year was announced alongside the 2023/24 Cost of Living Payments.
In addition to Cost of Living Payments and the Household Support Fund, other schemes to support household finances have been introduced since the beginning of 2022. More on these measures can be found on the Commons Library’s cost of living and inflation webpage.
2022 Cost of Living Payments were forecast to cost £8.8 billion, out of an estimated £15.3 billion for the total May 2022 cost of living support package. 2023/24 Cost of Living Payments are forecast to cost over £11 billion.
The payments are not mutually exclusive, so certain households could get all three, depending on their circumstances. People who are eligible for a Cost of Living Payment should be paid automatically and do not need to make an application. Payments should be paid to all eligible people in the same way as their qualifying benefit or tax credit.
Further information on the rules governing the Cost of Living Payments, and on the arrangements for paying eligible households and individuals, can be found in:
The Commons Library published briefings on the primary legislation for both Cost of Living Payment rounds, giving further background to the legislation, and exploring the estimated impact of the support packages:
The Commons Library webpage Cost of living and inflation has links to the Library’s wider publications on the rising cost of living in the UK, including the causes of inflation, the effect on households, and Government support.
Cost of Living Payments: Overview and FAQs (510 KB , PDF)
This briefing paper details the support available to armed forces veterans in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
A summary of the announcements in the 2023 Autumn Statement and an overview of the latest economic forecasts.
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme compensates for injury, illness or death caused by service on or after 6 April 2005.