§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons are today paid a pension as the parents of sons killed on active service in the British Armed Forces during wartime, and how many such pensions have been payable each quinquennium since 1945; what is the average amount paid today and what is the range of payments; 536W how many times have such pensions been raised since 1945 and by how much; and what are the precise conditions for payment, and how many eligible parents does he estimate have not applied.
§ Mr. DeanThe number of such pensions in payment at 30th June 1973 to parents and certain other dependants of men whose deaths were attributable to service was 23,459. The figures for earlier years are: —
1945 162,583 1950 132,014 1955 86,992 1960 60,109 1965 43,406 1970 29,900 The average weekly pension is 98p, and payments range from a minimum rate of 25p up to the maxima shown below.
For one eligible parent £1 (£75) Increased in exceptional circumstances i.e. death of more than one son £1.38 (£95) For more than one eligible parent £1.38 (£100) Increased in exceptional circumstances i.e. death of more than one son £2 (£120) Note: Yearly rates in respect of officers' parents shown in brackets.
The original intention of the parents' pension scheme when introduced in 1917 was to replace to a limited extent—up to 15 shillings a week—the support for which a son was legally liable under the poor law. Entitlement is, therefore, based on financial need arising from age, infirmity or some other adverse condition, and the income standards applied are virtually the same as those applied by the Supplementary Benefits Commission for entitlement to a supplementary pension. None of the maximum rates has been increased since 1946 as these pensions are regarded as obsolete in the context of modern social security provision.
There is no way of estimating the number of eligible parents who have not applied for a pension.