When the case of Amy Jeffrey came to John Mann MP's attention in the spring of 2009, it was clear that a gap in the law unfairly penalised and unjustly left widowed students ineligible to claim a Funeral Payment from the Social Fund. 

Last spring, confronted with the tragic loss of her husband Rowland, Amy, a student nurse in her mid 20s, realised that she was unfairly penalised by the law, unable to receive a Funeral Payment as a young widowed student. Supported by her family, Amy has since taken a courageous stance to pressurise the Department for Work and Payments into ensuring all young widowed students are entitled to receive a Funeral Payment.

Alongside her family Amy presented a petition of 8,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street on October 29th 2009 calling for a fairer deal for widowed students. Last week John Mann passed on long overdue news to Amy news that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Yvette Cooper had confirmed a change in regulations to guarantee that widowed young students rightly received a Bereavement payment to assist with funeral costs.

Nationwide, thanks to Amy's tireless campaigning the government is proposing that young student widows and widowers now automatically qualify for funeral awards, a change in the law which now legally covers students and student nurses like Amy. Government is consulting on the detail of this currently.

John says "Amy should be commended for her brave stance on this issue. Amy Jeffrey has demonstrated great courage and fortitude over the last year and she is undoubtedly a credit to both her family and to the Bassetlaw community."

31st March 2010