§ 46. and 47. Commander Purseyasked the Minister of Social Security (1) why the widow of a naval rating, whose name has been forwarded to her by the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Hull, East, and whose husband died while serving in Malaya, has been given only negative 25 information about her allowances by her Department during the two months since she was flown from Malaya, in particular that she is not entitled to family allowances because she has not been present in Great Britain for at least 26 weeks out of the past 12 months;
(2) why no welfare officer from her Department has visited the widow of a naval rating, whose name has been forwarded to her by the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Hull, East, and whose husband died while serving in Malaya, during the two months since she was flown home from Malaya, with her three infant children;and why no positive information has been given to her as to her widow's and children's allowances.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Social Security (Mr. Harold Davies)A claim to war widow's pension from my Department was initially rejected on the ground that the off-duty accident which caused the husband's death was unrelated to his naval service;this decision is now being reconsidered following my hon. Friend's representations. A welfare officer from my Department has now visited the widow, who has already had help from the Forces welfare services.
Family allowances are not yet payable under the ordinary provisions in this case, but special family allowances are in payment by the Service Department at the same rate. The position was explained to the widow in a letter on 10th October. She is now receiving, in addition to the Service Department benefits and allowances, the appropriate national insurance widow's benefit.
I shall be writing to my hon. and gallant Friend about the case.
§ Commander PurseyMay I ask the Minister why, when this rating's widow's application for a war widow's pension was rejected, she was not informed what to do in order to obtain a Ministry widow's pension and children's allowance, instead of being kept in suspense after the tragic death of her husband, travel ling home by air from Malaya with three young children, and simply being put on a train and discarded by the Admiralty? As regards the second Question—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am very sympathetic to the case, but it must be put briefly.
§ Commander PurseyI am dealing with two Questions, if I may, briefly. Why did not the welfare officer visit this rating's widow shortly after her return from Malaya and inform her what her income would be from 1st November, which is only now a fortnight ago, instead of this widow not knowing what she was going to get after that date?
§ Mr. DaviesWe all admire my hon. Friend's tenacity in trying to get justice for Service people. With all due deference to his knowledge, his facts are not correct. As soon as the lady arrived from Singapore, she was accompanied to her home by a Service Department welfare officer. She informed the lady of the procedure which should be taken, our Ministry ultimately followed it up and, as from today, the lady will receive over £50 arrears of allowances for her family. Because of my hon. Friend's part in this, we are looking at the case once again to see whether, as a consequence of this man's tragic death, which was the result of an accident at home—he was putting a light in a table lamp when he received a fatal electric shock—his widow can qualify for a war pension.