Hansard

War Widows' Benefit

Volume 493: debated on Wednesday 17 February 1988

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Earl Haig

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in view of the disparity between war widows' pensions and those paid to widows whose husbands were killed in action more recently, they will consider using some of the funds available as a result of the miscalculation of the Retail Price Index to (

a) improve the war widows' age

allowance by £2 per week; and ( b) reduce the qualifying age for it to 60.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security
(Lord Skelmersdale)

As my noble friend Lord Arran made clear in answer to a starred question from my noble friend Lord Campbell of Croy on 10th February (Official Report, cols. 207–9), the so far unallocated funds available from the miscalculation of the Retail Prices Index are of a one-off nature and so could not provide for improvements in war widows' pensions provisions.