Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of veterans who left service before December 2018 who have a veteran ID card.

The Armed Forces Veteran Card Scheme was launched in two phases. Phase one is complete, with all Service leavers since December 2018 being automatically issued with a card as part of their discharge process.

Phase two extended access to veterans who left service 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 Ministry of Defence does not collect or hold information on all veterans, so it is not possible to make an estimate specifically on the proportion of pre-18 veterans who now have a card.

However, I can confirm that as of 15 October 2024, 139,328 Phase two cards had been dispatched to pre-2018 veterans who had applied, and we continue to receive approximately 270 applications per day. These figures exclude duplicates.