HC Deb 22 December 1919 vol 123 cc1056-7W
Mr. LORT-WILLIAMS

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the wife of Lance-Corporal George A. Edwards, No. 18976, 8th Royal Irish Regiment, was admitted to Cane Hill Asylum on the 5th June, 1916, and died there on the 14th December, 1917, while he was serving in Palestine; whether the separation allowance ceased on her admission; Whether he is aware that the Camberwell guardians have appropriated towards her maintenance the money due to him under a policy of insurance; whether the grounds for stopping the allowance under the Army Regulations are based upon the assumption that in such cases the burden of maintenance has been shifted from the husband to an institution supported by public funds; and whether as in this case, the burden has been borne by the husband, he will direct that the separation allowances shall be paid to him for the period during which his wife was an inmate of the asylum?

Mr. CHURCHILL

The facts are as stated. It was decided, after very full consideration, that in such cases the issue of separation allowance from Army funds should cease, and that any payment necessitated by the special circumstances of the case should be made under the authority of the Ministry of. Pensions, which possesses machinery for giving discretionary treatment in individual cases. I am not in a position to judge whether in this case any claim arises against Pension Ministry funds.

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