Amanda Milling, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, has pledged her support to the Royal British Legion’s “Count Them In” campaign.
The Government’s official statistics body, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), along with their devolved equivalents, are already starting to plan what questions will be in the next UK census in 2021. The 2011 census revealed more information about the UK’s Jedi population than about those who have served in our Armed Forces. Despite an estimated 1 in 10 of the UK population being members of the Armed Forces community, there is very limited information about where they are or what their needs might be.
The Royal British Legion has launched a campaign to include questions in the census to get a better understanding of the distribution of the veteran population across the UK.
Amanda Milling said: “We have a once in a generation opportunity to get a better understanding of the UK veteran population. By adding new questions to the 2021 census we can improve our understanding of this unique community and ensure that politicians, charities and service providers can better meet the needs of our serving personnel, veterans and their families.”
If anyone wants to support the campaign they can sign up at http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/count-them-in/