HL Deb 20 February 1975 vol 357 cc533-6WA
Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What would be the extra cost of paying an Attributable Forces Family Pension to all war widows on the same terms as apply to those whose husbands give service on or after the 31st March 1973.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

If all war widows of Service personnel were paid an attributable Forces Family Pension on the terms which apply to widows whose husbands die attributably on service after 31st March 1973, the extra cost would be of the order of £100 million a year.

Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What pension is paid today in respect of a child of a widow whose husband a flight lieutenant aged 25, was killed on duty (a) in January 1973; (b) in January 1975.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

A widow whose husband, a flight lieutenant, was killed on duty in January 1973 would today receive from the Department of Health and Social Security, in respect of one child, an allowance of £273.30 per annum in addition to her war widow's pension. If the husband had been attributably killed in January 1975, the allowance from the Department of Health and Social Security would be £265.93 a year but a children's pension of £378 per annum would also be payable by the Ministry of Defence. These latter amounts would be in addition to the war widow's pension and Armed Forces attributable widow's pension respectively.

Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What would be the total annual pension income today of a widow with two eligible children of a major killed on duty at the age of 30 as a result of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland (a) in January 1973; (b) in January 1975.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

It is the length of service rather than the age of the deceased officer which is relevant in the first instance and I am assuming for the purpose of this reply that there is reckonable service of nine years, that is from the age of 21. The total pension income for death in January 1973 would be £1,926 and for January 1975 it would be £4,013. These figures include war widow's pension, with children's allowance, from the Department of Health and Social Security and Ministry of Defence attributable benefits; those in the first case being under the special ex gratia scheme for Northern Ireland deaths and injuries occurring between 1st August 1969 and 31st March 1973.

The figures given would be subject to abatement if the widow were to receive an award under the Criminal Injuries to Persons (Compensation) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.

Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What would be the total annual pension income today of the widow, now aged 63, of a sergeant killed in 1944; and what would be the total pension income of her daughter of the marriage now aged 40, whose husband, also a sergeant, was killed on duty today.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

The pension income of the first widow would today be £683, the war widow's pension issued by the Department of Health and Social Security. Added to this might be a National Insurance Retirement Pension earned by her own contributions. She would not be entitled to a pension from the Ministry of Defence.

The pension income of the second widow, assuming that there were no eligible children, would be £1,815 which would include benefits from both the Department of Health and Social Security and the Ministry of Defence.

In both cases it is assumed that the deaths were attributable to service.

House adjourned at a quarter before ten o'clock.