Bill · started in the Commons
Forces Widows Pensions (Equality of Treatment) Bill
A Bill to provide for the equal treatment of forces widows’ pensions in respect of retirement from military service for the periods before 1973 and between 1973 and 2005; and for connected purposes.
In progress
Current stage: 2nd reading (Commons)
The story so farThe Forces Widows Pensions (Equality of Treatment) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 21 January 2009 by Mr Michael Mates (Conservative). It is now at second reading in the House of Commons. Second reading is the first debate on the overall principle of the bill; if the bill clears it, detailed committee scrutiny follows.
What the bill does
<p>Until 1973, the widow of a retired serviceman was entitled to a pension equal to one third of the pension their spouse had earned. In 1973, a number of improvements to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme were introduced, one of which was to increase the service widow’s pensions to half the spouse’s rate of pension. However, this improvement applied only to that part of the spouse’s pension earned by service on or after 31 March 1973.</p><p>The Bill would provide for armed forces pensions to be paid to surviving spouses and civil partners of deceased armed forces personnel who retired from service:<br> (a) before 31 March 1973 and<br> (b) between 31 March 1973 and 6 April 2005<br>to be calculated and paid on the same basis.</p>
Progress through Parliament
- 1st reading Commons 21 Jan 2009
- 2nd reading Commons 19 Jun 2009
Source: the official bill page. Last updated 29 Oct 2009.