§ Mr. Wilmotasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the many cases of hardship among the widowed mothers of serving soldiers as a result of the inadequate scale of allowances paid to them; whether he can now make a statement with regard to the case of Mrs. Putnam, of 22, Trigon Road, S.W.8, about whom he was approached on 18th July last, whose total income has been reduced to 28s. gd., entirely contributed by her two sons except for a widow's pension of 10s.; and whether he can see his way to an improvement in this state of affairs?
§ Mr. SandysMy right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions intimated to the House on Thursday last that the improvements in the methods of assessing war service grants in the case of families of married men in the Services would be extended to solely dependent parents. With regard to the individual case referred to by my hon. Friend, I have informed him by letter that Mrs. Putnam has now been found eligible to receive a grant of 1931W dependant's allowance in respect of her son, Sapper S. D. Putnam, and that this allowance has been put in issue as from 16th September, the date of Sapper Putnam's claim. If Mrs. Putnam considers that she is still suffering hardship as a result of her son's enlistment, it is open to her to make application to the War Service Grants Advisory Committee for a supplementary grant.