WAR PENSIONS

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23806, 27 November 1942, Page 4

WAR PENSIONS

REGULATIONS AMENDED REMOVAL OF ANOMALIES (P.A.) WELLINGTON. Nov. 26. The removal of some of the anomalies in the Social Security and Pensions Emergency Regulations is effected in amendments to those regulations gazetted to-night. The first provides that where a soldier dies while in receipt of a permanent pension for total disability, the War Pensions Board may, at its discretion, give a pension to the widow or any dependent children, whether the death of the soldier is due to a war disability or not. A proviso is added, however, in the case of widows receiving pensions, that they must have been married to the soldier before he was granted a permanent pension in respect to his total disablement. ' The next alteration says that if a war pensioner dies and any of his dependants have been in receipt of a pension in respect of him, the War Pensions Board can continue that pension for 28 days after the pensioner’s death. Another alteration affects war veterans’ allowances. Previously the War Pensions Board had authority to grant at its discretion an additional amount of war veterans’ allowance of ss. bringing the total allowance from 25s up to 30s. The same applied to the wife, who instead of receiving 15s. might receive 20s with the authority of the board. The new regulations now make the total amounts which can be received 30s and 20s respectively, thus cutting out the discretionary allowances. Another alteration affecting war veterans’ allowances is also included. Previously it was held that if an applicant for a war veterans’ allowance died before his application came before the board, that body could not make any grant, in the case of the war veterans’ allowance, if an allowancee died and was receiving an allowance for any dependants, the total amount payable to the veteran and his dependants may now, at the discretion of the board, be continued for two years. The new regulations also stipulate that the board can grant an allowance after .a man has died, and if a widow and children are left any allowance can be continued. A slight modification of the Social Security Act is also provided, for the original act said that any person in receipt of an age benefit could not be granted a war pension as a dependant of a dead member of the forces. The new regulations give the Social Security Commission authority to increase the age benefit by an amount not exceeding £26 a year to any age beneficiary who satisfies the commission that the beneficiary was a parent of a deceased member of the forces whose death was attributable to service as a member of the forces, and that the beneficiary was wholly or partially dependent on the member during the 12 months immediately preceding the date he became a member of the forces. This alteration applies both to the last war and the present war.