The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants\u2019 Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.<\/p>
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It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans\u2019 Affairs. A claimant\u2019s status can be recorded as \u201ccurrently serving\u201d, \u201cserved in the past\u201d, \u201cnot served\u201d or \u201cprefer not to say\u201d.<\/p>
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By 14th March 2024, an armed forces status of \u201cserved in the past\u201d had been recorded for approximately 110,000 claimants with UC claims for which a statement had been generated. This figure includes some people who are no longer on the UC caseload, some who had a nil payment claim and some who subsequently reported a different armed forces status, e.g. \u201ccurrently serving\u201d. It should be noted that the available data does not allow a comprehensive estimate of the total number of UC claimants who are, or have been, veterans.<\/p>
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Notes:<\/p>
1. The figure provided is for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.<\/p>
2. The figure provided has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.<\/p>
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