§ Lord Balfour of Inchryeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What housing concessions, financial benefits and other help are given to service widows.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Viscount Trenchard)The widow is allowed to remain in the married quarter for a minimum period of six months. This period can be extended should the widow require it. After the six-month period the widow is only asked to leave if there is a pressing requirement for the quarter (from another service family) and if the widow has found alternative accommodation. The widow is never evicted. During the period the widow remains in the quarter the usual charges will be made. The widow will continue to receive her husband's full rate of pay for 182 days (six months) if she has children or 91 days (three months) if there are no children.
A tax-free death grant is paid as soon as possible after death to all widows whose husbands die in service. When death is attributable directly to service (as in the Falklands) an additional gratuity is paid. These grants depend upon length of service and rank; typical examples of the approximate orders of payment are as follows (including additional gratuity):
Widow of Private from £7,500 to £10,500 Widow of Sergeant from £10,250 to £14,500 Widow of Captain from £14,500 to £20,500 Widow of Colonel from £25,500 to £35,500 Widows will receive a service widow's pension from the Ministry of Defence and a war widow's pension from the Department of Health and Social Security. These pensions are both index-linked; the DHSS pension is tax free. Typical exampled of the two pensions 672WA taken together are as follows (for widows aged under 40 and with no children):
Widow of Private £2,700 pa Widow of Sergeant £3,800 pa Widow of Captain £5,300 pa Widow of Colonel £9,200 pa In addition, if the widow is over 40 the pension increases in every case by about £1,500 pa, and if there are children extra pensions to the value of £1,000£2,500 per annum per child are paid, so if the widows quoted above were over 40 and had two children their pensions would be:
Widow of Private £6,600 pa Widow of Sergeant £8,200 pa Widow of Captain £10,300 pa Widow of Colonel £12,400 pa Just as important as all the foregoing, of course, is that throughout the difficult period following bereavement we do as much as possible from our various welfare organisations to provide advice, comfort and support within the context of the shared experience of service life.