§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether a widow, entitled to widow's pension, who is in receipt of basic rate invalidity pension in her own right and an additional component made up partly from her own contributions and partly from that of her late husband, receives the entire benefit tax-free or only that part of it which is ascribable to her own contributions; and what will be her position between the ages of 60 and 65 years if she continues to draw invalidity pension, but at a reduced basic rate owing to deficiences in 205W her own contributions and receives the balance of the basic rate in the form of retirement pension on her late husband's contributions.
§ Mr. OrmeTaxation of benefits is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but on the assumption that invalidity benefit continues to be non-taxable and national insurance widow's benefit taxable, the position after 6th April 1979, when additional components first become payable, will be as follows.
A widow under age 60 who is entitled to a widow's pension and an invalidity pension for the same period will receive the sum of the two basic components up to the level of the standard rate—£19.50 from November 1978—and the sum of any additional components on her own or on her deceased husband's contributions up to the maximum prescribed for the time being.
The rate of invalidity pension for a widow between 60 and 65, who has not retired, will be the same as the rate of the catgory A retirement pension to which she would have been entitled if she had retired, and will include any category B retirement pension, based on the amount of widows' pension she was receiving immediately before age 60, based on her husband's contributions.
A widow is entitled to choose, before payment is made, to receive any nontaxable benefit in preference to an equivalent amount of taxable benefit if she would, apart from overlapping provisions, be entitled to both.