Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of armed forces veterans in prison in England and Wales.

Since January 2015, all newly received offenders into custody (convicted or remanded) are asked on reception if they have served in the Armed Forces or as a Reservist.

Data collected at prison upon first reception, show that the number of ex-armed force personnel continues to remain relatively low. Latest figures published in October 2017 shows approximately 3% of offenders who responded to the question were former members of the Armed Forces. This has been a similar level to the previous four quarters.