§ 37. Mr. Garro Jonesasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air what pension is awarded to the wife (with no children) of a sergeant-pilot killed on flying duty?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadThe childless widow of a sergeant-pilot killed on flying duty is eligible for pension at the following rates:
- (a) if she is not over 40 years of age and
- (i) is able to earn her own living:—13s. 6d. a week;
- (ii) is unable by reason of mental or bodily infirmity to earn her own living:—20s. 6d. a week;
- (b) if she is over 40 years of age:—20s. 6d. a week;
- (c) on attaining 60 years of age:—23s. a week.
§ Mr. Garro JonesIf it should be necessary to undertake an intensified recruiting campaign for sergeant-pilots, will the hon. and gallant Gentleman take care that the publicity makes it clear that the State will give a sergeant-pilot's wife the generous pension of 13s. 6d. a week if he happens to be killed?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadThe rates that widows get when their husbands are killed on flying duty are accessible to the public.
§ Mr. Garro JonesDoes the hon. and gallant Gentleman think it is satisfactory that the wife of a sergeant-pilot, if she is under 40, gets 13s. 6d. a week if he is killed on flying duty?
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is not a question to put to the Minister; it is a matter of opinion.
§ Mr. Garro JonesMay I, then, ask the hon. and gallant Gentleman whether he proposes to take any measures to put that pension on a more equitable basis?
§ Lieut.-Colonel MuirheadNo such proposals are under consideration, but I may-say that the scales in this case are on a comparable basis with those of the Army and Navy in similar circumstances.