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About the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA)
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Historical Veterans Agency Information
- In the Beginning
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- The Royal Hospital Chelsea
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- The Great War & beyond
T
he
Great War & Beyond
The Great War (1914-1918) with its many casualties highlighted the fact that
the arrangements for War Pensions were inadequate.
In 1916 a Parliamentary Select Committee recommended that the existing pension
provisions should be incorporated into one War Pension Scheme administered by
a new Department. In 1917 the Ministry of Pensions was established, later becoming
the Department of Social Security.
In 1921 legislation was passed to introduce
the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions. The Committee made up of departmental
officials, ex-servicemen and representatives of ex-service organisations continues
to meet twice a year.
World War II saw the war pension scheme expanded to include ex-members of the Polish Forces who served under British Command, Merchant Seamen and civilians injured due to enemy action. War Pensions work was relocated to Blackpool, where it still is today.
Since the two World Wars there have been other major conflicts such as the Falklands in 1982 and the Gulf War 1991 and more recently in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afhganistan. Any disablement due to these conflicts, or any other service cause, can lead to the award of a war pension. The scheme therefore continues to be administered.
The War Pensioners' Welfare Service (WPWS) started in 1948 when the Ministry of Pensions decided that it's responsibility to war pensioners' extended beyond payment of an award. Welfare Managers were appointed to offer practical help with all kinds of problems. The WPWS maintains this important role today.
In December 1990, a Government sponsored report on the efficiency of war pensions recommended that a dedicated unit should administer it and in 1991 the War Pensions Directorate was launched, becoming the War Pensions Agency in 1994.
In 1992 the War Pensions Helpline was set up to offer assistance over the phone to war pensioners and their representatives. In April 2000 following a recommendation by the Social Security Select Committee the helpline became a Freephone service to all residents in the UK.
