Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans ID cards his Department expects to deliver to veterans in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Post-December 2018, Service leavers automatically receive a Veterans Card as part of their discharge process. As of June 2023, there have been almost 70,000 HM Armed Forces Veterans' Cards issued as part of phase one.

Phase two refers to the launch of the service for pre-2018 veterans to verify their status and receive a card. The Government remains committed to delivery and will be engaging with veterans over the summer to participate in testing the service, with the phased rollout of cards beginning by the end of the year. The number of cards issued and the duration of each phase in the rollout will depend on demand. Once launched, the service will remain live for all veterans who want a card to apply at any time in the future, and cards will continue to be issued automatically to Service leavers.