Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the roll-out of Veterans ID cards to all UK veterans will be completed.

The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme, also referred to as the Veterans’ ID card, has a two-phase rollout. Phase one is complete, with Service leavers from 2018 onwards receiving a recognition card as part of the discharge process. Phase two aims to extend the scheme to existing veterans. Work on determining how best to achieve this, working with veterans and other stakeholders, is underway at pace and has included the testing of secure, digital verification of veterans’ status. We remain on track to deliver phase two during this Parliament.

The pace of the phase one roll-out is set by the number of personnel leaving the services each month. The pace of the phase two roll-out, once launched, will be determined by the number of applications received from veterans who have already left service.