HL Deb 28 February 1983 vol 439 cc1026-7WA
Lord Balfour of Inchrye

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the pension paid to a childless widow without private means of:

  1. (i) an RAF Flight Lieutenant killed on active service in the 1939–45 war,
  2. (ii) an RAF Flight Lieutenant killed on active service in Northern Ireland,
  3. (iii) an RAF Flight Lieutenant killed on active-service in the Falklands,
  4. (iv) an RAF Flight Lieutenant killed in an RAF accident,
    5. 1027
  5. (v) the corresponding pension in terms of sterling paid to a German widow of a serviceman of equivalent rank and in similar circumstances on active service, so far as these are comparable.

Lord Glenarthur

The pensions Her Majesty's Government would award come from two departments: the Ministery of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Security. Entitlements to the former depend on the conditions of service obtaining at the time of the husband's death, the type of commission he held, his length of reckonable service and whether he died before or after 1st April 1973, the date on which Attributable Forces Family Widows Pensions and other improvements were introduced into the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme. Awards are immediately index linked.

All widows whose husband's deaths were held to be attributable to service are entitled to a war widows pension from the Department of Health and Social Security. Widows whose husbands were killed in the 1939–45 war receive £2,301 per annum. Widows whose husbands were killed on active service in Northern Ireland, or in the Falklands, or who died in an accident attributable to service receive £2,246 per annum if they are over 40 or £514.10 per annum if under 40. These awards are immediately index linked. (A lower rate of war widows pension is paid after 1st April 1973 because the rank related element previously paid by the Department of Health and Social Security is now paid as part of the Ministry of Defence attributable Widows Pension).

Benefits administered by the Ministry of Defence are as follows:

Where a husband was killed on active service in 1939–45 and he held a permanent commission and had sufficient service to qualify for the award of service retired pay, his widow was entitled to a Ministry of Defence forces family pension of a war widows pension from the Department of Health and Social Security. For Flight Lieutenants who would not have had long service the former was, generally speaking, lower than the latter. Therefore many of these widows are in receipt of this higher Department of Health and Social Security award. If the husband did not hold a permanent commission, or had insufficient service, his widow was awarded the war widows pension only. If the husband was killed on active service in Northern Ireland or in a Royal Air Force accident after 1st April 1973 or in the Falklands, irrespective of his length of service, the widow was eligible for the award of a forces family pension, which is rank related only (and currently stands at £4,794 per annum) and a war widows pension from the Department of Health and Social Security.

Information on the corresponding pensions paid to German widows in comparable circumstances is not readily available. It is most unlikely that these pensions could be usefully compared to those paid to British war widows since the conditions under which they have been awarded may vary very considerably from those which apply to British war widows. To obtain a proper comparison, other welfare benefits would also need to be taken into consideration.