Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of veterans who left the armed forces before 2018 have been issued with a Veteran's ID card.

The Veterans' Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase one is complete; with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a recognition card as part of the discharge process.

Phase two aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to veterans who left their service before December 2018. The Government remains committed to delivering recognition cards to veterans and will begin issuing cards by the end of this year. The MOD is currently determining how best to achieve this, working with veterans and other stakeholders.

As phase two has not yet launched, no cards have been issued to any veterans who left Service prior to December 2018.