Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) veterans and (b) family members of veterans are eligible for the Nuclear Test Medal.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 8 November 2023, 1,684 Nuclear Test Medals had been dispatched to veterans, and 14 to next of kin.
Of the cases assessed, a further 33 veterans are eligible for the Nuclear Test Medal, and 699 next of kin.
There are currently 439 veteran and 648 next of kin cases still to be assessed. Initial priority was given to veterans who had applied prior to 18 September 2023, with applications from those over 90 and/or the terminally ill reviewed first.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have received their Veteran ID card in each local authority area under the Veterans' Recognition Scheme as of 1 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans have received their Veteran ID card under the Veteran's Recognition Scheme as of 1 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to correspondence of 30 August 2023 from the hon. Members for Luton South and Luton North.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is endeavouring to provide the fullest possible response to the hon. Members and will reply at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans had received a veteran ID cards as of (a) 1 January, (b) 1 February, (c) 1 March, (d) 1 April, (e) 1 May, (f) 1 June, (g) 1 July, and (h) 1 August 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Under Phase One, since 2018, Veterans ID cards have been issued to all Service leavers. The below table details the number of Veteran ID cards that have been issued as at the 1st of each month so far in 2023.
Month | Total |
January | 60,970 |
February | 62,092 |
March | 63,705 |
April | 65,143 |
May | 66,736 |
June | 68,246 |
July | 69,877 |
August | 71,320 |
The Government will begin phase 2 of the Veterans Card roll-out by the end of the year, which will extend the scheme to pre-December 2018 Veterans.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to the public purse was of phase one of the veterans recognition scheme.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her to Question 183283 on 9 May 2023.
Under Phase One, since 2018, Veterans ID cards have been issued to all Service leavers; the cost of this is not separately recorded. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) project team responsible for developing and implementing the new digital verification service and issue of ID cards for Veterans who left service prior to 2018 currently consists of 4.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) civil servants and 6.0 FTE contractors in total. This number will fluctuate during the current financial year depending on skills requirements.
The MOD has allocated £1.5 million to phase two of the project for financial year 2023-24. Expenditure of £1.07m in financial year 2022-23 was funded by the Cabinet Office when the project was led by the Office of Veterans Affairs.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much from the public purse was spent on the distribution of veteran ID cards in 2023, as of 14 September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her to Question 183283 on 9 May 2023.
Under Phase One, since 2018, Veterans ID cards have been issued to all Service leavers; the cost of this is not separately recorded. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) project team responsible for developing and implementing the new digital verification service and issue of ID cards for Veterans who left service prior to 2018 currently consists of 4.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) civil servants and 6.0 FTE contractors in total. This number will fluctuate during the current financial year depending on skills requirements.
The MOD has allocated £1.5 million to phase two of the project for financial year 2023-24. Expenditure of £1.07m in financial year 2022-23 was funded by the Cabinet Office when the project was led by the Office of Veterans Affairs.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent staff were working on the veterans recognition scheme on 1 September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her to Question 183283 on 9 May 2023.
Under Phase One, since 2018, Veterans ID cards have been issued to all Service leavers; the cost of this is not separately recorded. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) project team responsible for developing and implementing the new digital verification service and issue of ID cards for Veterans who left service prior to 2018 currently consists of 4.6 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) civil servants and 6.0 FTE contractors in total. This number will fluctuate during the current financial year depending on skills requirements.
The MOD has allocated £1.5 million to phase two of the project for financial year 2023-24. Expenditure of £1.07m in financial year 2022-23 was funded by the Cabinet Office when the project was led by the Office of Veterans Affairs.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department is providing to the Veterans' Gateway in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Veterans’ Gateway enables veterans and their dependents to access state and charity support services in areas including physical and mental health, financial support, assistance with independent living, housing, and employment.
In the financial year 2023-24, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) has provided £250,000 of funding to support the service, which has already supported over a million veterans.
On 13 July 2023, it was announced that the Government had launched a refresh of the Veterans’ Gateway, with the service to be run by the OVA, at the heart of government, next year.
Funding for the financial year 2024-25 is yet to be confirmed.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Luton South, dated 28 June 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
A response will be issued to the Hon. Member in due course.