§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what would be the cost of amending the overlapping benefits regulation so as to allow widows to claim industrial injuries benefit in addition to their pensions;
(2) what would be the cost of amending the overlapping benefit regulation so as to allow widows to claim sickness benefit in addition to their pensions;
(3) what would be the cost of amending the overlapping benefit regulation so as to allow widows to claim invalidity benefit in addition to their pensions;
(4) what would be the cost of amending the overlapping benefit regulation so as to allow widows to claim unemployment benefit in addition to their pensions;
(5) if he will give an estimate of the number of widows who forfeited their entitlement to unemployment, sickness, invalidity or industrial benefit in the last 12 months as a result of the overlapping benefits regulation;
(6) what would be the cost of abolishing the overlapping benefits regulation in respect of widows.
§ Mr. OrmeWidows can, like married women, choose not to pay full national insurance contributions. Those with an age-related pension often pay the full contribution so that they can in due course qualify for a full-rate retirement pension; but widows receiving the full standard rate of widow's pension or widowed mother's allowance usually choose not to pay full contributions since they are assured of a full-rate retirement pension and cannot qualify for other national insurance benefits on top of their widow's benefit. It is not possible to estimate the cost of permitting the payment of unemployment benefit, sickness benefit or invalidity pension in addition to widow' benefit, since this would depend on the extent to which widows who had formerly been paying264W contributions at a reduced rate chose to pay full contributions; nor can the number of widows who forfeited all or part of their entitlement to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit or invalidity pension in the last 12 months as a result of the overlapping benefits regulations be estimated, although it is unlikely that many widows getting full-rate widow's benefit would be so affected since most of them would not be entitled to the other benefits. As regards industrial injuries benefit, eligibility for which does not depend on the payment of contributions, the cost of permitting the payment of this benefit with widow' benefit would be about £½ million a year. It is estimated that at any one time in the past 12 months about 600 widows would have been able to receive both industrial injuries benefit and widow's benefit but for the operation of the overlapping benefits regulations.
The main cost of abolishing the overlapping benefits regulations for widows would arise in respect of widows over pensionable age as more and more women became entitled to retirement pensions on their own contributions, due to the phasing-out of the option at present open to married women and widows to pay reduced contributions, the abolition of the married woman's half-test and the new pension scheme provisions for protecting the basic pension rights of persons who cannot work because of responsibilities at home. The cost would be expected to build up over a period of years to over £1,000 million a year at current rates.