Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) War Pensions and (b) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme awards are not counted as income for the purpose of calculating (i) benefits and (ii) pensions.

There are no plans to change the ways in which War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) awards interact with State Pensions and benefits. They are already fully ignored in the State Pension and in Universal Credit.

The first £10 per week of a War Pension or AFCS award is disregarded in: income-related Employment and Support allowance; income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; and, Income Support. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in these benefits, and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. Furthermore, these are legacy benefits, in the process of being replaced by Universal Credit, in which War Pensions and AFCS are ignored.

By default, the first £10 per week of a War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is disregarded in Housing Benefit. Furthermore, a discretionary scheme allows local authorities to fully disregard them.

In relation to Pension Credit, the first £10 of any War Pension payments or AFCS award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded. Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her/his partner. War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.