HL Deb 27 October 2003 vol 654 cc13-4WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the current number of war widows whose husbands died in or as a consequence of the Second World War; and [HL4698]

What is the current average age of war widows whose husbands died in or as a consequence of the Second World War. [HL4699]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)

The information requested is not available in the format requested as details of the particular conflict to which a deceased husband's death related would have no bearing upon the entitlement to a war widow's pension. The information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

A range of statistics on war pensions, including an analysis by age of the numbers of widows receiving war widows pensions, is published quarterly. A copy is available in the Library of the House.

Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the total cost, at current prices, in each of the last six years for which figures are available, of pensions paid to war widows whose husbands died before the Armed Forces Pension Scheme came into being. [HL4700]

Lord Bach

This information is not available in the format requested and would involve the examination of approximately 40,000 individual cases and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.