§ Lord MacKay of Ardbrecknishasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many post-1973 Ministry of Defence non-attributable widows are currently in receipt of Forces Family Pensions; and [HL1470]
How many new post-1973 Ministry of Defence non-attributable widows there have been in each of the last 10 years. [HL1471]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)About 76,000 widows and widowers are currently being paid pensions from the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme. Our records do not break this figure down by year of retirement or between widows/widowers whose husbands retired before and after 1973. To attempt to do so would require a manual search of all 76,000 pensions files, and that would incur disproportionate cost. Some 2,500 attributable widows' and widowers' pensions are being paid from the AFPS, all of them to the widows and widowers of individuals who retired or died in service after 1973.