Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veteran ID cards have been distributed in each local authority area to veterans who left service before December 2018.

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 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 15 calendar days from date of application receipt. As of 12 September 2024, there have been a total of 143,380 Phase 2 applications received, and 133,387 cards issued.  Demand is determined by the number of veterans who choose to apply and not the overall number of veterans in the UK.

The attached table shows the total number of Phase two cards distributed by postal county.