§ Mr. John Browneasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will agree to reopen the question of refunding deductions made from officer prisoners of was during 1939 to 1945 in light of new evidence that such prisoners of war were unaware that such deductions were being made and the fact that the moneys deducted were not paid over to the enemy Governments at the end or during the war.
§ Mr. WigginIn reviewing the question of officer prisoners of war pay, account has been taken of the views of some former prisoners of war that they did not know of deductions being made but our enquiries have established that the deductions were properly promulgated by each Service in the usual manner. The fact that moneys deducted were not paid over to the enemy Governments at the end of the war resulted from a mutual waiver of claims. This would not have affected officers' eligibility for refunds since the Government had already accepted responsibility for the claims of their personnel.
I am, however, now able to make the statement promised by my hon. Friend the Member for Chertsey and Walton (Mr. Pattie) on 31 October 1980, about the possibilities of providing further assistance for ex-prisoners of war. These possibilities have been studied in consultation with other Government Departments and the Royal British Legion and the Officers Association.
It has been the policy for many years to concentrate resources available to help ex-Service men or those who are disabled, and under the war pension scheme 393W administered by the Department of Health and Social Security there is a very wide range of provision available to Service men, including ex-POWs, who are disabled as a result of service, and for the dependants of those who have died where the death is attributable to service. Special arrangements can also be made for the medical treatment and rehabilitation of war disablement pensioners and for the provision of specialised appliances. These facilities are supplemented by the invaluable efforts of the various Service charities.
War disablement cases are treated on merit and do not give preference to particular groups unless justified by special problems. The Government have not thought it right to give a special pension to all ex-POWs. Some special procedures already exist for dealing with the war pension claims of ex-POWs imprisoned in the Far East, who suffered extreme deprivation, ill-treatment and exposure to tropical diseases with inadequate medical attention. Our study has not revealed evidence of special problems affecting ex-POWs beyond those already recognised, though individual war pension claims from ex-POWs are always handled sympathetically and full account is taken of the circumstances of captivity. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services keeps all these matters under review.
We intend to make a small change in the arrangements for admitting ex-Service men for treatment in Service hospitals where capacity exists, to give priority to ex-prisoners of war as well as to war pensioners.
The report of a study sponsored by the British Members Council of the World Veterans Federation into the long term effects of war-related deprivation on health has recently been published. The recommendations of this report relating to ex-POWs and severely war disabled are being studied by my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security.