§ Sir John StanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the steps that have been taken by his Department to assist war widows since May 1979.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe Government have honoured their pledge to maintain the value of war widows pensions. Since 1979 these pensions have been uprated annually in line with the retail prices index. In 1979 the basic pension was £30.20 a week. It is now £60.95.
In 1979 the Government freed war widows pensions from income tax.
In 1984 the Government introduced a new tier of age allowance for war widows aged 80 or over. Age allowances are paid in addition to the basic war widows pension. These age allowances were increased by more than the retail prices index in April 1990; from £6.10 to £7.00 a week for war widows aged 65–69, from £12.20 to £13.50 a week for those aged 70–79 and from £15.30 to £20.00 a week for those 80 or over.
In 1987 the Government significantly improved the help with funeral costs for war pensioners whose death was due to service.
In 1988 the Government increased from £4 to £5 a week the amount of war widows pension which is disregarded for the assessment of entitlement to income related benefits. From April 1990 the disregard was further 561W increased to £10 a week and arrangements were also made to disregard completely the new special payments of £40 a week to pre-1973 war widows.