§ Mr. G. Straussasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will reconsider the provisions under which an unmarried wife of a soldier is debarred from receiving any dependants' allowance if, before the claim for dependants' allowance is made, the soldier has not paid her regular contributions in excess of the qualifying allotment required had the allowance been claimed and admitted at the proper time; and is he aware that this provision 1607W penalises unmarried wives who have temporarily gone into industry and subsequently have been unable to continue their occupation?
§ Sir J. GriggI understand my hon. Friend to refer to the procedure adopted in cases of belated claims to Special Dependants' Allowance. The primary condition of issue of this allowance is that the man must have maintained the woman as his wife immediately before he joined the colours. If he failed to claim the allowance on joining he must also show that he has continued to contribute to her support since his enlistment so far as his means as a soldier permitted. This is the normal rule and is a necessary one to safeguard the public against claims which are not genuine. But if in a specific case a soldier could show good reason for not claiming the allowance when he entered the Army and could prove—this is an indispensable condition—that he maintained the woman before he entered the Army an exception could be made to the normal rule.