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.

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.