War Pensions Act 1920

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1920 c. 23


War Pensions Act, 1920

(10 & 11 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 23.

An Act to Amend the War Pensions Acts, 1915 to 1919, And the Ministry of Pensions Act, 1916.

[4th August 1920]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

S-1 Amendment of 6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 65.

1 Amendment of 6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 65.

(1) The powers and duties transferred from the Admiralty, the Commissioners of the Royal Hospital for Soldiers at Chelsea, the Army Council, and the Secretary of State for War to the Minister by the Ministry of Pensions Act, 1916, shall, except in so far as those powers and duties relate to pensions or grants to which the War Pensions Acts as amended by this Act apply, or to pensions or grants awarded in respect of wounds, disabilities, or other matters suffered, incurred, or happening in any war which occurred before the fourth day of August, nineteen hundred and fourteen, be re-transferred to the Admiralty, the Commissioners, the Army Council, and the Secretary of State respectively, and all powers and duties with respect to the administration of pensions vested in the Minister under subsection (3) of section two of the Air Force (Constitution) Act, 1917 , other than powers with respect to pensions to which the War Pensions Acts as amended by this Act apply, shall be transferred to the Air Council, and the expressions ‘the present war,’‘the great war,’ or ‘the war’ in any Warrants or Orders in Council relating to pensions, grants or allowances administered by the Minister shall have the same meaning as by virtue of this Act the expression ‘the present war’ has in the War Pensions Acts, and all such Warrants and Orders in Council shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(2) The expression ‘pension’ in the Ministry of Pensions Act, 1916, and in subsection (3) of section two of the Air Force (Constitution) Act, 1917, shall, in relation to officers, include a wounds pension awarded to an officer who is at any time after the date on which this subsection comes into operation in receipt of retired pay, or in the case of a naval warrant officer of a pension, granted under a Warrant or Order in Council administered by the Minister.

(3) If any question arises as to whether any pension, grant or allowance is a pension, grant, or allowance to which the War Pensions Acts as amended by this Act apply, that question shall be referred to the Minister, and the decision of the Minister thereon shall be conclusive.

(4) The provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall have effect as from the first day of August, nineteen hundred and twenty, and the other provisions of this section shall have effect as from the thirtieth day after the date fixed under the Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act, 1918 , as the date of the termination of the present war.

S-2 Application of War Pensions Acts.

2 Application of War Pensions Acts.

2. The expression ‘the present war’ in the War Pensions Acts shall mean any war carried on by His Majesty at any time during the period from the fourth day of August, nineteen hundred and fourteen, to the thirtieth day after the date fixed under the Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act, 1918, as the date of the termination of the present war, both inclusive, and accordingly, unless the context otherwise requires, references in those Acts to pensions, grants, and allowances, and to deceased or disabled officers or men, shall respectively be construed as references to pensions, grants, and allowances, granted, made, or awarded in respect of wounds, disablements or other matters suffered, incurred, or happening during the said period, whether the officers or men to or in respect of whom the pensions, grants, or allowances are granted, made or awarded, retired or are discharged from the service, or die before the expiration of the said period, or whether they so retire or are discharged or die after the expiration of the said period, and to officers and men who have died or been disabled through causes arising out of their service during that period, whether they retire or are discharged from the service or die before the expiration of the said period, or whether they so retire, or are discharged, or die after the expiration of the said period:

Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section three of the War Pensions (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1919.

S-3 Power to divide county area into districts and to establish committees for districts.

3 Power to divide county area into districts and to establish committees for districts.

(1) Where it appears to the Minister that, with a view to the better administration of the War Pensions Acts in any county, it is expedient so to do, he may by order make a scheme for dividing the area of the county into such number of districts as he thinks proper, and for establishing for each of those districts a committee to act as a committee for the purposes of the War Pensions Acts in that district, or in the case of any such district for amalgamating the district with the area of an existing local committee: Provided that, where the Minister proposes to make a scheme under this section, he shall give notice of the proposed scheme to the committee of any county affected, and, if the committee within fourteen days after the receipt of the notice make to the Minister in writing any representations with respect to...

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