§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-service men who were invalided from the services prior to 1973 were beneficiaries of the armed forces pension scheme as at 1 January in each year since 1989.
§ Mr. SoamesThe information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of making pension payments to beneficiaries of the armed forces pension scheme who were invalided from the services prior to 1973 on the same basis as those who were invalided from the services after 1973; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesThe information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It is a general rule of all public service pension schemes that improvements apply only to those serving from the date they are introduced, as the administrative task involved in arranging back payments would make it impossible to introduce such improvements.