§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services for what reasons he has decided to withdraw future payments to widows in respect of industrial death benefit; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BuchanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of industrial death benefit from widows to whom it was awarded before April 1988, in the light of his Department's social security notes of February 1988, which stated that in existing cases payment would continue.
§ Mr. ScottIndustrial death benefit has been abolished in respect of deaths occurring on or after 11 April 1988. In these cases, industrial widows will have access to the same weekly benefits as national insurance widows, including the tax-free lump sum of £1,000, where appropriate, but they will not have to satisfy the contribution conditions. Where an industrial death occurred before 11 April 1988, industrial death benefit will still be payable, though its higher weekly rate has been aligned with that of national insurance widows' pension. This has entailed removal of the industrial preference of 55p a week. However, people in receipt of industrial death benefit will retain the important right to receive other benefits based on their own contributions (for example, retirement pension) on top of their death benefit. The reasons for these changes were set out in a consultation paper on the industrial injuries scheme, issued by the Department in December 1985, and were based on the proposals contained in the 1981 White Paper "Reform of the Industrial Injuries Scheme" Cmnd. 8402.