§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many war widows' pensions are paid in respect of World War 1.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris24,399 at 31st December 1975.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many disablement pensions have been commuted into a war widow's pension in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisDuring the year ended 31st December 1975 new awards were made to 1,937 war widows.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the current value of the war widow pension would have to be to equal that paid after (a) World War I and (b) World War II; and what is the actual amount paid.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisAt the end of the First World War the standard rate war widow's pension was 13s 9d, equivalent to £3–38 today. At the end of the Second World War it was £1 12s 6d, equivalent to £8.62 today. The current rate of pension is £17.20, to be increased to £19.80 later this year.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women are currently receiving war widows' pensions; and how many of these are World War 1 widows.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisAt 31st December 1975, 90,276 widows' pensions were in payment, of which 24,399 related to World War 1.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the present value of war widows' pension, in their equivalents, paid by France, Germany, Italy, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, 712W Belgium, Norway and Denmark, respectively, expressed in sterling; and which countries count it as part of taxable income.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisThe information requested is not readily available, but I shall be writing to my hon. Friend. I understand that war widows' pensions are treated as taxable income in Holland, Norway, Denmark and Ireland.