Field: councils should solve problem

Field Denies Broken Promise to War Pensioners

Although most local authorities don't take war disability pensions and war widows' pensions into account when means-testing housing benefit and council tax benefit, there are 14 authorities - most of them Labour-controlled - that insist on exempting just £10, which is the legal minimum. Some 30 other councils take differing percentages of war pensions into account when assessing these benefits.

Mr Field denied that Labour had been inconsistent in its approach to the issue. "There has been no U-turn," he said. It was up to local authorities to take appropriate action, he insisted.

"What I hope British Legion are going to do is concentrate their efforts where they can get immediate success, that is on the very small minority of local authorities who do not make this concession and presumably with a bit of help from the Royal British Legion will make the concession to bring them in line with all other local authorities," he explained.

Mr Field stressed that it was not up to the Government to put the situation right: "What they (the British Legion) have been told since the election is that there will be no specific review. Before the election there were a number of things happening including our leading up to the commitment to accept the financial controls over the next two years inherited from the previous government."

Mr Field said the DSS was committed to a wide-ranging spending review, and the RBL's demands would be part of that process. But he told BBC Radio's The World at One: "If we make concessions on this front to the RBL, if we are to fulfil that overall election pledge, it means taking benefits away from other people."

In opposition, Labour gave several pledges to look at introducing national legislation to remove the anomaly, but since the election the Government has issued two statements to Parliament stressing the issue would not be reviewed.