War Widows (Hansard, 17 November 2003)

§ Lord Morris of Manchester
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Answer by the Lord Bach on 27 October (Official Report, cols. 1–4), what proportion of war widows whose husbands died before the advent of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme are in receipt of their own state retirement pension; and, for those widows not in receipt of their own state retirement pension, what is the maximum pension they can receive. [HL5270]

§ Lord Bach
The information requested on the proportion of war widows whose husbands died before the advent of the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme who are in receipt of their own state retirement pension is not available. It could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, involving the clerical examination of over 40,000 individual war widows' files to identify where the husband died before 31 March 1973 and then by seeking information on payment of retirement pension in each case.
With regard to the amount of pension payable, a war widow who is aged 70 or over and whose late husband left service before the advent of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme on 31 March 1973 receives a tax-free war widow's pension of £175.37 a week. At age 80, this increases to £185.37 a week. If she is 257WA entitled to a state retirement pension based on her own national insurance contributions, this is payable on top of the war widow's pension. A pension and lump sum was also payable under Armed Forces occupational scheme arrangements provided that certain qualifying criteria were met. A minimum period of service by the spouse of 12 years (other rank) or 10 years (officer) was required for eligibility for a widow's pension though a gratuity was payable below this. The value of the payment depended on a number of factors, notably rank.

§ Lord Morris of Manchester
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What benefits are payable to war widows aged 70 or over who are:

(a) pre-1973 war widows with their own state retirement pension;

(b) pre-1973 war widows without their own state retirement pension;

(c) post-1973 war widows with their own state retirement pension; and

(d) post-1973 war widows without their own state retirement pension. [HL5271]

§ Lord Bach
A war widow aged 70 whose husband's military service ceased before 31 March 1973 receives a tax-free war widow's pension of over £175 per week, rising to over £185 per week at age 80. A pension and lump sum may also be payable under Armed Forces occupational scheme arrangements provided that certain qualifying criteria were met Notably, a minimum period of service by the husband of 12 years (other rank) or 10 years (officer) was required for eligibility for a widow's pension, though a gratuity was payable below this. The value of the payment depended on a number of factors, notably rank.
A war widow whose husband's service ceased after 31 March 1973 can receive a tax-free war widow's pension of almost £115 per week, rising to almost £ 125 per week at age 80, and an attributable pension under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). The qualifying criteria and levels of pension paid under the AFPS were generally significantly more generous than the pre-1973 occupational provisions.
In addition, widows in both groups are eligible for the full range of social security benefits, subject to the normal rules on entitlement and abatement. These fall into three main categories. Benefits may: be paid on top of the war widow's and occupational pensions (for example, state retirement pension based on the widow's own national insurance contributions, attendance allowance and winter fuel payment); or be reduced by the amount of the war widow's pension (for example, widow's retirement pension based on the late husband's contributions; carer's allowance); or take the war widow's and occupational pensions into account as income, with disregards for the war pension (for example, with respect to pension credit; housing and council tax benefits). The first £10 of a war widow's pension is disregarded as well as all of the supplementary pension (£60.97) paid to a pre-1973 258WA widow. In the case of housing benefit and council tax benefit, local authorities have the discretion to apply a further disregard up to the full amount of any war pension in payment.