§ Mr. Sutcliffeasked the Secretary of State for War how the allowances to the mothers of serving men compare with those granted in the last war?
§ Sir J. GriggWhere an allowance is granted under the present dependants' allowance regulations to the mother of a serving soldier it is at one or other of five fixed rates, viz., 8s. 6d., 14s., 19s., 22s. 6d., or 25s. a week. In addition, the solely dependent mother gets the full benefits of the War Service Grants Scheme. Under the regulations in force in 1918 the mother of a private soldier was eligible for an allowance varying from 1s. to 12s. 6d. a week. In addition, an alternative allowance of 5s. was introduced in October, 1918, applicable to cases where the soldier had not contributed to his mother's support prior to enlistment. The other allowance, like the present Army dependants' allowance, was conditional on a pre-enlistment contribution. The conditions under which these allowances were issued differed in several ways from those governing the present dependants' allowance, and there was no supplementary allowance corresponding to the present War Service Grants.