HC Deb 23 October 1918 vol 110 cc794-6W
Mr. NEEDHAM

asked the Pensions Minister whether a special grant to a dependant, made under 7, 1A, of 5s. a week for rent, insurance, etc., is reduced to 2s. 6d. on the birth of her expected child, so that, in spite of the normal increase of 3s. 6d. due to the additional child, the total income is diminished; whether, should the child die, the grant of 5s. would be reinstated; and whether he will cause the general instructions to be revised so that special grants under 7, 1A can be continued after the birth of a child?

Mr. HODGE

I do not follow the hon. Member's figures, but it is true that the birth of a child may lessen the grant under Regulation 7 (1) (a). Allowances under the Special Grants Committee Regulations 7 (1) (a) are governed by the disproportion between the present income of the household and the "pre-enlistment" income after allowing for the saving resulting from the man's absence. If as the result of an addition to the present income (whether by an increased separation allowance following the birth of a child or otherwise) the disproportion becomes less than the allowance in issue, a reduction in the allowance must be made. If the income should again fall, as by the death of the child, the former allowance would he restored. I may remind the hon. Member that the purpose of this Regulation is to put the wife as far as possible in the financial position she would have been in if her husband had remained in civil life, and that normally the income of a civilian does not rise with each increase in his family.

Mr. BYRNE

asked the Pensions Minister if he will take steps to see that pensions are paid for children up to the age of eighteen years; and if he is aware that in many cases children have not finished their education until they reach that age?

Mr. HODGE

Provision already exists in the Royal Warrant (Articles 2 (2) and 12) for the continuance of children's allowances beyond age sixteen in cases where the children are being educated at secondary schools, technical schools, or universities. The allowances may also be continued between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one in cases of children in-incapable through mental or physical infirmity of earning a living.

Mr. FARRELL

asked the Pensions Minister whether, in the case of young married women whose husbands are gone to the War and who are given a 12s. 6d. per week separation allowance, complaint is made that this sum is wholly insufficient for the support of the wife; whether it is proposed to increase this amount, and, if so, when; and what the increase will be?

Mr. HODGE

I must refer the hon. Member to the announcement recently made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and published in the Press, of the new scales of separation allowances which include increased provision for the childless wife who is unable to work. No further increases are at present under consideration.

Mr. NEEDHAM

asked the Pensions Minister whether he has arranged for the distribution with ring-papers of a full statement of the rights of dependants of sailors and soldiers?

Mr. HODGE

The rights of dependants of deceased soldiers and sailors are explained in a pamphlet which is issued with each dependant's ring-paper. With regard to the dependants of serving soldiers and sailors, I am arranging for the distribution through the post-offices to all dependants of a notice (of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy) explaining in summarised form what assistance can be given to them by the local war pensions committees.

Mr. DEVLIN

asked the Pensions Minister whether he is aware that, under present regulations, a discharged soldier who is under treatment in a lunatic asylum is counted as a dead man and his wife treated as a widow under Act 6, Royal Warrant, but only so far as allowances are concerned; and, if so, whether this regulation will be withdrawn and the wife allowed the same allowances as if her husband were under medical treatment?

Mr. HODGE

The hon. Member's statement is substantially accurate, and I am now considering the question of diminishing the present inequality of treatment between lunatics and other discharged men in hospitals and institutions.