§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what data his Department collect on the numbers of United Kingdom war widows whose war widows pensions and in respect of which years ceased on remarriage. [140142]
§ Dr. MoonieI assume that the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) refers to those widows who have been awarded a War Widows Pensions Agency and who have, in addition, been awarded an attributable forces family pension under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). We can retrieve from our computer database records of the numbers of widows who have remarried since 1998, but our records of past remarriages do not separately identify which widows receive attributable forces family pensions. The number of widows remarrying in each of the last two years is:
Year Number 1998–99 52 1999–2000 67 Although our past records do not distinguish between attributable and non-attributable widows, we believe that around one in 20 widows are paid an attributable forces family pension. More detailed information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.