§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial assistance is available from his Department to help in the cost of a person visiting a war grave in a European war grave cemetery. [51241]
§ Mr. SpellarSince 1985, the Royal British Legion have operated the War Widows Pilgrimage Scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Defence to provide financial assistance to any Service widow, whose husband died and was buried overseas between 1914 and 1967, to visit the grave.
The Scheme, which entitles any Service widow to make one visit to the grave, is funded by a Grant-in-Aid from the Defence Budget which contributes ⅞ of the cost of a pilgrimage; the remaining ⅛ of the cost is borne by the widow. There are no plans to expand the Scheme to include other family members.
As I announced in the House of Commons on 5 May 1998, Official Report, column 282, following an approach by the Royal British Legion, I agreed to an extension of the War Widows Pilgrimage Scheme until 31 March 2001. I intend to conduct an automatic review every two years; as long as there are Service widows eligible to visit their husband's grave, this Government will continue to renew the Scheme.