§ 57. Captain CAZALETasked the Minister of Pensions whether he has received any representations as to the desirability of altering the Pensions Act so that widows and young children of all ex-officer and other ranks, who die of war injuries, should be thereby covered; and, if so, whether he proposes to take any action in that direction?
§ The MINISTER of PENSIONS (Mr. F. O. Roberts)I have received one or two representations on this point. With regard to the last part of the question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Windsor (Mr. A. Somerville) on the 17th ultimo, of which I am sending him a copy.
§ 58. Captain CAZALETasked the Minister of Pensions how many pensioned ex-officers and other ranks have died of war injuries since the Pensions Act, 1921, was passed; how many of them had married after being wounded or otherwise injured in war and so left widows and/or children not provided for by that Act; how many such widows and children are there now; and what would be the annual cost of applying to them the provisions of the Pensions Act for wives married and children born within the periods therein laid down?
§ Mr. ROBERTSI have no record of the aggregate number of deaths that have been caused by war disabilities, as no occasion arises to determine officially the cause of death unless a claim is made by a pensionable survivor. Nor have I any precise information as to the number of officers and men married or of children born to them since the receipt of the war disability, the position as regards pension of the dependants in such cases being determined by the Royal Warrants of 1914 and onwards, and not by the War Pensions Act, 1921. On an approximate estimate, however, based on all the data available, the cost of placing the wives and children of all ex-service officers and men in the same position under Royal Warrants, regardless of the date of marriage or of birth, would be about £7,750,000 rising to £9,250,000 a year.