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Written Question
Veterans: Identity Cards
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2024, to Question 17492 on Veterans: Identity Cards, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of assessing the effectiveness of the advertising of the veterans’ ID cards application service.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The HM Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme has had a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receive a Veteran Card from Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their Service Leaver Pack.

Phase 2 extends access to the Veteran Card to those who left before December 2018. The new digital application and verification service launched at 00:01 on 28 January 2024 allowing pre-2018 veterans to apply for the card.

As of 18 March 2024, there have been a total of 90,381 Phase 2 applications received, and 71,752 cards issued. During March 2024, 12,907 applications have been received and 9,807 posted.

Extensive communications have been issued by both MOD and the Office for Veterans' Affairs in relation to the application service. This included significant social media activity, bespoke videos, a GOV.UK news article and an article in the Sunday Express. Applications have also now opened for veterans in prison as part of the rehabilitation process. MOD has partnered with the Ministry of Justice to communicate availability of the cards to every prison in the UK.


Written Question
Veterans: Identity Cards
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2024, to Question 17492 on Veterans: Identity Cards, what progress his Department has made on reaching this month's production target for veterans' ID cards.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The HM Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme has had a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receive a Veteran Card from Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their Service Leaver Pack.

Phase 2 extends access to the Veteran Card to those who left before December 2018. The new digital application and verification service launched at 00:01 on 28 January 2024 allowing pre-2018 veterans to apply for the card.

As of 18 March 2024, there have been a total of 90,381 Phase 2 applications received, and 71,752 cards issued. During March 2024, 12,907 applications have been received and 9,807 posted.

Extensive communications have been issued by both MOD and the Office for Veterans' Affairs in relation to the application service. This included significant social media activity, bespoke videos, a GOV.UK news article and an article in the Sunday Express. Applications have also now opened for veterans in prison as part of the rehabilitation process. MOD has partnered with the Ministry of Justice to communicate availability of the cards to every prison in the UK.


Written Question
Veterans: Identity Cards
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183286 on Veterans: ID cards, how many veteran ID cards have been distributed by local authority area as of 18 March 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.


Written Question
LGBT Veterans Independent Review
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15405 on LGBT Veterans Independent Review, whether his Department has plans to increase the accessibility of the application process for LGBT veterans who are seeking (a) financial compensation and (b) other non-financial restorative measures.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Defence continues to work at pace to establish an appropriate scheme for the financial award and aims to follow a similar application process as the non-financial award recommendations. Development of the scheme and the application process is underway.

The Government worked with LGBT Veterans and charities at pace to implement an accessible process for LGBT veterans to apply for restorative measures. While there are no current plans to change the application process, Defence will continue to review it to ensure it is appropriate and accessible. We are committed to ensuring that all restorative measures are easily accessible for our valued LGBT veterans.

In the meantime, Defence will continue to engage with stakeholders and is committed to providing updates on the development of the scheme; eligibility criteria; and information on the application process on the ‘LGBT Veterans: support and next steps’ GOV.UK page as soon as possible.

For those with further accessibility requirements, Defence provides a Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), which includes assistance in completion of application forms. Further information on this service can be found on their GOV.UK page (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/veterans-welfare-service).


Written Question
LGBT Veterans Independent Review
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15405 on LGBT Veterans Independent Review, whether his Department plans to create a single application form for LGBT veterans who are applying for financial compensation.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Defence continues to work at pace to establish an appropriate scheme for the financial award and aims to follow a similar application process as the non-financial award recommendations. Development of the scheme and the application process is underway.

The Government worked with LGBT Veterans and charities at pace to implement an accessible process for LGBT veterans to apply for restorative measures. While there are no current plans to change the application process, Defence will continue to review it to ensure it is appropriate and accessible. We are committed to ensuring that all restorative measures are easily accessible for our valued LGBT veterans.

In the meantime, Defence will continue to engage with stakeholders and is committed to providing updates on the development of the scheme; eligibility criteria; and information on the application process on the ‘LGBT Veterans: support and next steps’ GOV.UK page as soon as possible.

For those with further accessibility requirements, Defence provides a Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), which includes assistance in completion of application forms. Further information on this service can be found on their GOV.UK page (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/veterans-welfare-service).


Written Question
Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15406 on Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans, if he will provide deadlines for implementation of each of the recommendations of that Review.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 15 March 2024 to Question 17306.


Written Question
Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his planned timetable is to implement the recommendations of The Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans 2023, published on 17 July 2023.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Our response to the Review was published in December 2023. The Government accepts the principle and intended outcome of all the review’s recommendations and is currently working to deliver them.

There are several recommendations which the Ministry of Defence is already actively taking forward, including the retirement of the Veterans UK brand, and the transformation of the way we deliver welfare support to ensure a consistently high level of service. The response sets out our commitment and high-level plans, and further detail will be made available in due course as we make progress.


Written Question
Veterans: Identity Cards
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13679 on Veterans: Identity Cards, if he will take steps to accelerate the roll-out of veterans’ ID cards.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The HM Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme has had a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receive a Veteran Card from the MOD as part of their Service Leaver Pack.

Phase 2 extends access to the Veteran Card to those who left before December 2018. The new digital application and verification service launched at 00:01 on 28 January 2024 allowing pre-2018 veterans to apply for the card.

The current delivery contract allows for the production of 50,000 Phase 2 pre-2018 veteran cards per month and are issued within an average of 14 calendar days from date of application receipt. As of 7 March 2024, in the six weeks since launch, there have been a total of 83,730 Phase 2 applications received, and 67,335 cards issued.

Demand is determined by the number of veterans who choose to apply and not the overall number of veterans in the UK. Extensive communications have been issued by both the MOD and Office for Veterans' Affairs in relation to the application service.


Written Question
Veterans: Identity Cards
Thursday 14th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13679 on Veterans: Identity Cards, if he will take steps with (a) private and (b) third sector organisations to accelerate the roll-out of veterans’ ID cards.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The HM Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme has had a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receive a Veteran Card from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of their Service Leaver Pack.

Phase 2 extends access to the Veteran Card to those who left before December 2018. The new digital application and verification service launched at 00:01 on 28 January 2024 allowing pre-2018 veterans to apply for the card.

The current delivery contract allows for the production of 50,000 Phase 2 pre-2018 veteran cards per month and are issued within an average of 14 calendar days from date of application receipt. As of 7 March 2024, in the six weeks since launch, there have been a total of 83,730 Phase 2 applications received, and 67,335 cards issued.

Demand is determined by the number of veterans who choose to apply and not the overall number of veterans in the UK. Extensive communications have been issued by both MOD and Office for Veterans' Affairs in relation to the application service.


Written Question
Veterans: Aerospace Industry
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2024 to Question 13224 on Veterans: Aerospace Industry and Defence, if he will publish the Career Transition Partnership’s annual statistics on veterans they have supported.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence publishes an annual Official Statistics report covering the employment outcomes of Service leavers who utilised the support of the Career Transition Partnership. The latest figures cover Financial Year 2022-23 and were published on 15 February 2024 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/career-transition-partnership-ex-service-personnel-employment-outcomes-statistics-index