HC Deb 19 May 1887 vol 315 cc517-9
MR. HANBURY (Preston)

asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the annual pension of £40 of a Custom House official, named Leckey, who retired at the age of 67 in 1845, and died in 1852, was drawn by his wife for 23 years after his death, and for a further 12 years by his daughter, up to March of this year; whether he has reason to believe that similar cases are not uncommon; what precautions are taken to prevent imposition of this kind; and, who are the officials to whose neglect the waste of public money in this instance was due?

MR. CALEB WEIGHT (Lancashire, S.W., Leigh)

also asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether any step will be taken to inquire into the abuses recently exposed of persons receiving pensions for many years after the lawful recipient has died; and whether during the present Session the Government intend to ask the House to appoint a Select Committee to inquire into the Pension List?

THE SECRETARY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.)

Perhaps the hon. Member for the Leigh Division of Lancashire will allow me to deal with the Question which he has addressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the same time as the Question of the hon. Member for! Preston. As the House is, no doubt, aware, the offender in this case was prosecuted by the Board of Customs, was convicted of felony, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. I have made inquiries of the Offices that pay pensions, and I am informed that no similar case has been discovered in any of the Civil Departments, though in military pensions attempts at personation appear not to be uncommon. The Regulations for the payment of pensions require the production of a certificate, attested by a Justice of the Peace, notary public, or a member of certain specified classes of the community, of the continued existence of the person claiming to be entitled to the pension, and a false declaration, of course, exposes the offender to legal penalties. In addition to this, though not prescribed by the Regulations, it has been the practice in, I believe, all paying Departments, except the Customs, to chock the age of all claimants at certain intervals, and to exercise extreme care whenever the lapse of time since the grant of the pension or the age of a pensioner gave cause for exercising caution. I am considering whe- ther tills practice, or some development of it, should not be embodied in the Regulations. In the meantime, a general and careful scrutiny of pensioners is in progress. The method appears to me to be one entirely for Departmental regulation, and in no way to call for inquiry by a Select Committee of this House.

MR. HANBURY

Is nobody responsible in this matter?

MR. JACKSON

Obviously the persons responsible are the officials in the Custom House.

MR. HANBURY

Will the hon. Gentleman endeavour to trace the persons who are responsible?

MR. BRADLAUGH (Northampton)

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that until a few years ago there was a person who appeared in the Pension List as receiving a pension for services rendered in the American War of Independence?

[No reply.]