Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the rollout of the Veteran's ID Card.

The Veterans' Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete, with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a HM Armed Forces Veteran Card as part of their discharge process. As of July 2023, phase 1 has delivered over 71,000 cards to Service leavers. Phase 2 aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to veterans who left their Service before December 2018. Continued progress has been made towards the launch of a new digital verification service, which is currently undergoing testing, to enable the phase 2 rollout.

With around 2 million veterans in the UK, we are focused on building the technology and processes to deal with large volumes of card applications accurately and securely. We expect to begin issuing cards to veterans later this year. A paper-based application process will also be made available for veterans who are unable to use the online service.