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Armed Forces: Children

Volume 470: debated on Thursday 24 January 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service deaths have occurred where the service parent was in receipt of continuity of education allowance or boarding school allowance at the time of their death since 1997; how many children of deceased service personnel received his Department’s financial assistance in these cases; what the total cost has been over that period; how much provision is made in his Department’s budget annually for such cases; and if he will make a statement. (180039)

Information prior to the roll-out of the joint personnel administration (JPA) could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In the period June 2006 to date, continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments have been made in relation to 15 Service personnel who have died in service. These payments have related to 21 children. The total cost of these payments is £185,000. There is no specific allocation for provision of CEA in cases of death in service. We cannot predict what future payments will be. However, we are committed to making such payments.