§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what recent representations he has received concerning the plight of pre-1973 war widows;
(2) whether he has received any representations from overseas concerning the plight of British pre-1973 war widows.
§ Mr. PortilloNumerous representations have been received recently about the position of pre-1973 war widows, following the circulation of letters by the Royal British Legion and War Widows Association of Great Britain to Members of Parliament and to peers. One person from overseas made representations in 1986.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he will review his decision to cancel the provisionally arranged meeting with Mrs. Iris Strange of the British War Widows and Associates and representatives of the All-Party Group for pre-1973 War Widows;
(2) whether, since cancelling the provisionally arranged meeting with Mrs. Iris Strange of the British War Widows and Associates, he has had meetings with representatives of other organisations representing war widows; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloAlthough my noble Friend, who has special responsibility for war pensions, said in July 1987 that he did not think a meeting with Mrs. Strange would be helpful, he has told my hon. Friend he would be glad to see him to discuss this. Since July 1987 he has not had a formal meeting to discuss war widows pensions with any organisation specifically representing war widows, although he has met representatives of a number of organisations concerned with the interests of war widows and war disablement pensioners.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what information he has concerning the current ages of pre-1973 war widows;
(2) what estimates he can make of the numbers of pre-1973 war widows who are currently dying each year;
(3) whether he has any information concerning the numbers of second world war widows who are still alive;
548W(4) whether he has any information concerning the numbers of pre-1973 war widows who are still alive and who lost their husbands in service other than during the two world wars.
§ Mr. PortilloThe standard rate of war widows' pension under the war pensions scheme administered by DHSS is the same regardless of when the husband served or died. Records only distinguish between those whose husbands served between 1914 and 1921 and those whose husbands served from 1939 onwards. They do not distinguish pre and post-1973 widows, second world war widows or widows who lost their husbands in service other than during the two world wars. Definitive information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of the numbers of post-1973 war widows and assumptions about their ages suggest, however, that at December 1987 in the region of 56,000 war widows were pre-1973 widows, of whom about 51,000 were aged 65 or over, and that the number of pre-1973 war widows is currently falling by about 2,000 a year due to death or re-marriage.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any information concerning the numbers of first world war widows who are still alive.
§ Mr. PortilloAt December 1987, 5,100 first world war widows were in receipt of a war widows pension.