Major Hicks Beachasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will give an assurance that in considering a review of all pensions he will take into account the alternative widows' pensions awarded to widows of soldiers killed in the 1914–18 war, some of whom have not had any rise since their initial award.
§ Brigadier SmythThe scheme of alternative pensions ceased many years ago and no provision for this class of pension was made in the Pension Instruments for the 1939 War, successive Governments holding the view that a standard rate for all pensioners is the most equitable form of compensation for disablement or bereavement due to war service. Those who were awarded alternative pensions have continued to draw them while they remained more beneficial than the standard rates.
My right hon. Friend would not feel justified in increasing an alternative pension which is above the standard rate, but where, as the result of the standard rate being increased, that rate becomes more favourable than an alternative pension, a widow automatically receives the benefit of the standard rate.