§ Major HORE-BELISHAasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he wilt state the scale of pensions payable to widows of naval officers who died during the War, and whether these widows are receiving an increase of pension irrespective of whether their husbands were on active service or already retired; and whether he will state the comparative scale of pensions for the widows of officers who have died since 1920, and if there is any difference between the scales paid he will place all widows upon the higher scale, whether their husbands died before the War or after?
§ Mr. HODGESThe scales of pensions payable, subject to the conditions laid down in the Regulations, to the widows of naval officers who died during the War, whose deaths were neither attributable to service during the War nor due to disease aggravated by such service, were as follows:
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Rank of husband for purposes of pension. Rate of Widow's Pension. If death took place before 13th Aug., 1920. If death took place on or after 13th Aug., 1920. £ £ Admiral of the Fleet 120 300 Admiral 225 Vice- Admiral 187½ Rear-Admiral 150 Commodore 120 Captain 90* 100 Commander 80 90 Lieutenant-Commander 70 70 Lieutenant 50 50 Sub-Lieutenant Nil 45 Commissioned Officer from Warrant Rank 40 If serving on 1st Feb., 1919. Under consideration. Warrant Officer 30 Chief Officer of Coastguard 25 *£80 if the officer had less than three years' seniority. The deaths of the officers in these cases were neither attributable to service nor due to disease aggravated by such service, and no distinction is drawn between the widows of those who died on the active list and those who died after retirement, but the pension is based on the rank last held by the officer on the active list.
The corresponding rates for the widows of officers who have died since the date of the official termination of tire War are the same as those for widows of officers who deaths took place on or after the 13th August., 1920.
The rates of pension granted to the widows of officers whose deaths were attributable to service or due to disease aggravated by service during the War is a matter for the Ministry of Pensions.
Pensions awarded prior to 13th August, 1920, may be increased under the Pensions Increase Scheme introduced on that date, subject to the provisions of the Scheme regarding the means of the pensioners, etc. Apart from that I regret that it is not possible for the widows of officers whose deaths took place before the 13th August, 1920, to be placed on the scale of pensions laid down for those of officers whose deaths took place on or after that date, where this scale is more favourable. It has not been the practice to make changes in widows' pensions retrospective to cover the cases of widows already on the pension list, and the present rules are common to all three Services.