Veteran Analysis & Intelligence System
About VANTIS
VANTIS is the Veteran Analysis & Intelligence System, an independent data and intelligence project focused on improving the evidence available about the UK veteran population.
Veteran-related data is collected across government departments, local authorities, health services and other public bodies. Much of that information exists in separate datasets, is reported using different measures, or is not routinely published.
VANTIS brings this evidence together so it can be examined as a wider picture rather than as isolated datasets.
Why VANTIS exists
The problem is not simply a lack of veteran data. It is fragmentation.
National statistics can provide one part of the picture. Administrative data can provide another. Local authorities may hold information that is not published nationally, while Freedom of Information requests can reveal further evidence and, importantly, where information is not being recorded at all.
These sources are rarely brought together consistently. That makes it difficult to understand what the available evidence collectively tells us about veterans across different places and services.
What VANTIS does
VANTIS collates, standardises and analyses veteran-related information from multiple sources, including:
- official national statistics and administrative datasets;
- local authority and other public-sector data;
- information obtained through Freedom of Information requests; and
- population and geographic data used to provide appropriate context and comparison.
Where appropriate, datasets can then be compared geographically, over time and against wider population measures.
Data gaps are part of the evidence
What is not recorded can be as important as what is recorded.
VANTIS does not treat missing information as a zero. It distinguishes between reported figures, information that is not held, information that has not been supplied, suppressed values and authorities or organisations that have not responded.
This allows gaps in veteran identification and reporting to be examined alongside the available numerical evidence.
Evidence and provenance
VANTIS distinguishes between official observations, administrative records, information obtained through Freedom of Information requests and modelled or derived analysis.
The aim is to preserve the provenance and limitations of the underlying evidence rather than combine different sources in a way that suggests greater certainty than the data supports.
Current status
VANTIS is currently in development.
The evidence base and analytical platform are being developed progressively as additional datasets are obtained, cleaned, validated and incorporated.
The scope of VANTIS will therefore develop with the evidence available.