Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been issued to veterans who were discharged before December 2018, by council area.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Over 192,000 HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards have been issued to eligible veterans discharged before December 2018. Due to the data collected, it can only be accurately mapped to region and postcode area, rather than council areas.
The tables below include all Veteran Cards posted since January 2024, excluding cards automatically issued to those leaving service after December 2018. The data is rounded to the nearest hundred to allow for:
The Veterans Data Dashboard also provides more robust population data, including by local authorities, using census and other open government data - https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/office.for.veterans.affairs/viz/2024-07-29VeteransDataDashboardv2final/Story1
Posted Veteran Cards by Region | |
Channel Islands | 200 |
East England | 4,600 |
East Midlands | 18,200 |
East of England | 13,000 |
Greater London | 8,300 |
Isle of Man | 100 |
North East | 19,300 |
North West | 22,300 |
Northern Ireland | 3,700 |
Scotland | 16,400 |
South East | 29,900 |
South West | 30,700 |
Wales | 11,300 |
West Midlands | 14,100 |
Total | 192,100 |
Posted Veteran Cards by Postcode Area | |
Aberdeen | 1,400 |
Bath | 2,600 |
Belfast | 3,700 |
Birmingham | 2,400 |
Blackburn | 1,100 |
Blackpool | 1,300 |
Bolton | 800 |
Bournemouth | 2,200 |
Bradford | 1,000 |
Brighton | 2,000 |
Bristol | 2,500 |
Bromley | 300 |
Cambridge | 900 |
Canterbury | 1,900 |
Cardiff | 3,100 |
Carlisle | 1,300 |
Chelmsford | 1,200 |
Chester | 2,500 |
Cleveland | 2,300 |
Colchester | 1,600 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 100 |
Coventry | 2,000 |
Crewe | 1,100 |
Croydon | 400 |
Darlington | 2,500 |
Dartford | 700 |
Derby | 2,000 |
Doncaster | 3,400 |
Dorchester | 1,700 |
Dudley | 700 |
Dumfries | 600 |
Dundee | 1,100 |
Durham | 1,200 |
Edinburgh | 2,200 |
Enfield | 300 |
Exeter | 2,500 |
Falkirk | 900 |
Galashiels | 500 |
Glasgow | 2,300 |
Gloucester | 3,000 |
Guernsey | 100 |
Guilford | 3,400 |
Halifax | 400 |
Harrogate | 600 |
Harrow | 300 |
Hemel | 1,200 |
Hereford | 1,000 |
Huddersfield | 600 |
Hull | 1,900 |
Ilford | 100 |
Inverness | 1,600 |
Ipswich | 2,500 |
Isle of Man | 100 |
Jersey | 100 |
Kilmarnock | 1,200 |
Kingston | 700 |
Kirkaldy | 1,900 |
Kirkwall | 200 |
Lancaster | 1,200 |
Leeds | 1,300 |
Leicester | 2,400 |
Lincoln | 2,800 |
Liverpool | 2,100 |
Llandrindod | 300 |
Llandudno | 2,100 |
London | 3,000 |
Luton | 500 |
Manchester | 1,800 |
Medway | 1,900 |
Milton Keynes | 1,300 |
Motherwell | 900 |
Newcastle | 4,400 |
Newport | 1,800 |
Northampton | 2,100 |
Norwich | 2,700 |
Nottingham | 4,300 |
Oldham | 1,000 |
Oxford | 2,200 |
Paisley | 900 |
Perth | 600 |
Peterborough | 4,600 |
Plymouth | 5,000 |
Portsmouth | 7,600 |
Preston | 1,900 |
Reading | 2,700 |
Redhill | 1,500 |
Romford | 600 |
Salisbury | 2,800 |
Sheffield | 3,300 |
Shetland | 100 |
Shrewsbury | 1,500 |
Slough | 600 |
Southall | 400 |
Southampton | 2,700 |
Southend | 1,000 |
St. Albans | 300 |
Stevenage | 1,000 |
Stockport | 1,300 |
Stoke on Trent | 2,000 |
Sunderland | 1,000 |
Sutton | 400 |
Swansea | 2,500 |
Swindon | 3,600 |
Taunton | 1,700 |
Telford | 1,300 |
Tonbridge | 2,000 |
Torquay | 1,400 |
Truro | 1,700 |
Twickenham | 700 |
Wakefield | 1,300 |
Walsall | 900 |
Warrington | 1,900 |
Watford | 300 |
Wigan | 900 |
Wolverhampton | 700 |
Worcester | 1,100 |
York | 2,600 |
Total | 191,700 |
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the delivery of Homes for Heroes.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have made clear that ensuring veterans and their families can access housing support is a priority.
At a roundtable in November with the Housing Minister and veteran housing organisations, we discussed the removal of the local connection and residency test for veterans applying for social housing in England, which is now in force.
I also attend the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, driving progress on our cross-Government homelessness strategy.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of veterans who left service before December 2018 who have a veteran ID card.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme was launched in two phases. Phase one is complete, with all Service leavers since December 2018 being automatically issued with a card as part of their discharge process.
Phase two extended access to veterans who left service 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 Ministry of Defence does not collect or hold information on all veterans, so it is not possible to make an estimate specifically on the proportion of pre-18 veterans who now have a card.
However, I can confirm that as of 15 October 2024, 139,328 Phase two cards had been dispatched to pre-2018 veterans who had applied, and we continue to receive approximately 270 applications per day. These figures exclude duplicates.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been distributed in each local authority area to veterans who left service before December 2018.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
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 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 15 calendar days from date of application receipt. As of 12 September 2024, there have been a total of 143,380 Phase 2 applications received, and 133,387 cards issued. Demand is determined by the number of veterans who choose to apply and not the overall number of veterans in the UK.
The attached table shows the total number of Phase two cards distributed by postal county.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of veteran ID cards by eligible veterans who were discharged before December 2018.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I can confirm this Government is absolutely committed to expanding the use of the Veteran Card and continues to assess options to increase uptake, with around 270 applications per day being received.
As per our manifesto commitment, work is being undertaken to further expand the benefits of having a card, including making the Veteran Card an accepted form of Voter ID. I am also pleased to note that the card has recently become an accepted form of ID on British Airways domestic flights.
Extensive communications have been issued by the Ministry of Defence in relation to the application service for the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme and applications have also opened for veterans in prison as part of the rehabilitation process.
I also recognise the vast demographic of the veterans’ community and therefore continue to ensure paper applications are also available for those not digitally able to apply via the online route.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been distributed in each local authority area.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme was launched in two phases. Phase one is complete, with all service leavers since December 2018 being automatically issued with a card as part of their discharge process. Phase two extended access to veterans who left service 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 3 September 2024, 134,830 cards had been dispatched to pre 2018 veterans who had applied. The attached table shows the total number of Phase two cards distributed by postal county.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to make the veterans ID card more widely accepted.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
As set out in our manifesto, this Government will address the inconsistencies in voter identification that prevent legitimate electors from voting, specifically including veterans of HM Armed Forces. We are considering what changes we wish to make in order to achieve this and will bring forward proposals in due course.
Currently, some of the uses for the card can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-a-veteran-card-as-a-service-leaver