§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many times the dependants' addition to war pensions has been increased since 1945 ; and how this compares with changes in dependency allowances for other social security benefits.
§ Mr. Alfred Morris:A war pensioner who is unable to work long-term because of his pensioned disability qualifies for unemployability supplement on top of his war pension. That benefit carries substantial dependency allowances which have gone up on 19 occasions since 1945, as have dependency allowances paid with social security benefits generally.
Small dependants' allowances, a maximum of 50p for a wife and 37½p for each child, were payable with a war disability pension regardless of whether or not the pensioner was at work. These were introduced after the First World War and were not increased at any uprating after 1945. They were regarded by successive Governments as having been overtaken by modern social security provision. With effect from 13th November, 1978, and after detailed consultation with national and local representatives of war pensioners, these allowances were incorporated into a single dependency allowance of 60p a week for 100 per cent. disablement and pro rata for lesser disablements, payable to a war disablement pensioner for so long as he has a wife or dependent child.
134WYorkshire and Humberside—the social security administrative region which includes West Yorkshire—and the United Kingdom at June 1977, the latest date for which total population estimates are available. I regret that separate family income supplement figures are not available for West Yorkshire.