PRESS RELEASE : First-of-its-kind veterans dashboard launched as new census data emerges [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 7 February 2023.
The Government is stepping up its use of data with a new dashboard showing information about the veteran community.
- Dashboard launched to bring together veterans’ data from different public bodies for the first time.
- Data will be regularly updated, allowing individuals and organisations to monitor progress.
- It comes as the ONS releases more data on the veteran population in England and Wales.
The Government is stepping up its use of data with a new dashboard showing information about the veteran community.
The Veterans Data Dashboard from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, allows the public to scroll through data in areas such as population, housing, mental health and employment.
The dashboard will provide a snapshot to the public, veterans and service providers so they can learn about the community, as well as the different services offered by the government to support veterans.
It comes as the Office for National Statistics released new data from the 2021 Census on the veteran population. The data covers areas such as age, health, gender and ethnic and religious breakdown.
Minister of Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer said:
In order to step up services for veterans and standardise support across the country, we need a better picture of the community we’re serving.
So it’s a key part of our job at the Office for Veterans’ Affairs to improve the data we have on the veteran community and today shows that we’re making good strides forward.
Data and evidence is at the heart of our veterans policy and I encourage everyone to check out the new dashboard.
The dashboard will be updated regularly as new data emerges and marks another step forward for the Office for Veterans’ Affairs.
Alongside the release of the dashboard, the Office for National Statistics have released further findings and analysis from the 2021 Census. For the first time, the demographic characteristics of our veteran population, including age, gender, nationality and reported health, are revealed.
The data shows that of the total (just over 1.85 million) UK armed forces veteran population in England and Wales, 13.6% were women and 86.4% were men. It also provides insights into the reported health of veterans, with veterans reporting their overall health similarly to the general population, when adjusted for age and gender.
The ONS is working to further analyse the Census 2021 data set, which for the first time included a question on if the respondent was a veteran.
