§ Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Mitchellasked the Minister of State for Defence what is his estimate of how much it would cost to extend the improved Army pension terms to the widows of men who left the Service before 1st April 1973 and of how many women fall into this category.
§ Mr. BuckThe new pension code includes a number of improvements which directly or indirectly affect the provisions for widows. It is impossible to calculate the cost of extending the full benefits to the widows of all men who left the Army before 1st April 1973.
There are at present 12,500 widows of Army personnel in receipt of a Forces family pension. The estimated cost of increasing their awards to one-half of the husband's pension is £2¼ million a year. The estimated cost of continuing to pay the husband's pension for a period of 91 days to those newly widowed who are entitled to a pension is £100,000 a year. Approximately 800 widows a year would benefit. In each case the cost will increase year by year. The estimated cost of granting approximately 54,000 Army war widows an attributable Forces family pension is £55 million a year.