§ Mr. Stallardasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what would be the cost of paying a gratuity to those First World War veterans who hold a gallantry award which at the moment does not qualify for such a grauity.
(2) what it would cost to pay the surviving widows of deceased veterans of the First World War who were holders of a gallantry award a gratuity where none had previously been paid;
(3) how many ex-regular survivors there are from the Second World War who pay tax in association with a gallantry award;
(4) what are the numbers of First World War survivors who hold one of the gallantry awards which carry a lump sum gratuity or an annuity.
§ Dr. GilbertI refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to his seven related questions on 5 March 1979—[Vol. 963, c.533–36.] There is no means of knowing the total number of surviving holders of First World War gallantry decorations who, had the later rules then applied, would have been granted a single £20 gratuity, nor can the numbers of surviving widows be ascertained. Without knowing the numbers involved it is impossible to estimate the cost of giving gratuities.
While it would be possible to identify, from among the individual records of pensioners who served in the same war, those who draw a pension addition or an annuity associated with a gallantry award, this could be done only at the expense of disproportionate time and effort. No 59W records now exist of those who were paid the single £20 gratuity as an alternative to a pension addition.
Taxation is primarily a subject for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but I understand that a taxable addition to pension in connection with a gallantry award is not separately recorded or taxed, if indeed the pensioner's income is such that it is taxed. The information sought in this respect is therefore unobtainable.