1. Introduction

The MOD opened a consultation with internal and external stakeholders on 2 January 2024 regarding the proposed cessation of the annual Location of UK armed forces pension and compensation recipients, currently produced annually, and proposal to cease publication.

2. Results

The consultation period ended on 13 February 2024. There were seven responses during the consultation period objecting to the cessation of the report. The main concerns raised are outlined below:

Whether the Census is a better alternative for providing veteran population estimates as it is only every 10 years, may not continue to contain an armed forces question and may cease to exist.

The statistics published in the Location of armed forces pension and compensation recipients report only represent approximately 17% of all veterans. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Scottish Government will have access to more complete data including the census, deaths data and the Service Leavers Database (SLD), the latter of which the MOD is supplying to them on an annual basis. In the short term, the census will provide a comprehensive picture of where all veterans in England, Wales and Scotland are located. Going forward, the ONS and Scottish Government will consider the potential to develop further veteran estimates, through combining the census data with the data on deaths and SLD. The data behind the location official statistics report is therefore no longer the most appropriate data for providing an indication of where all veterans are located.

The Census does not identify War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) recipients which is information needed to inform the provision of veteran services.

The MOD agree there is a need for this information to be published and recognise that the current annual WPS and AFCS statistics only produce compensation recipient information at regional level and there is a need for this information at a more granular geographical location.

The responses reflected less user need for information on the location of those in receipt of an armed forces pension. This information was originally included in the report to improve the veteran population estimates that the statistics were primarily developed for, however as described in bullet point one above the location official statistics are no longer the most appropriate data for providing an indication of where all UK armed forces veterans are located.

3. Conclusion

As a result of the responses to the consultation, the decision has been made to expand the recipient location information currently published in Table 19 of the annual War Pension Compensation (WPS) statistics to include Local Authority level and a new table will be introduced into the annual Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) statistics showing AFCS recipient location information at Local Authority Level. Local Authority Level was determined the most appropriate location breakdown to ensure the MOD continues to provide the level of information required to those who provide services to veterans who may need additional support. These publications can be found at the links below:

AFCS   

WPS

As the Location of armed forces pension and compensation recipient report is no longer the most appropriate data for providing an indication of the location of all veterans it will cease with immediate effect, although please note the data used to produce the statistics will continue to be collected by the MOD.

4. Next steps

The amendments to the annual WPS and AFCS statistics described above will be implemented in the 2025 reports.