§ MR. FORWOOD (Lancashire, Ormskirk)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if an increase of pension has been granted, at the instigation of an hon. Member for Devonport, to Mr. Elston from £33 8s. 8d. to £99 10s. l0d. per annum, and a sum of £550 to make up the difference of pension between these rates from 1878; when the pension was originally fixed, and if and when applications for its re-consideration have been received, and the nature of the replies to such request; if any, and what, new circumstances have recently arisen to entitle Mr. Elston to the increased pension and to the payment of the sum of £550; if he will state the circumstances that induced the Treasury to recently increase the pension of Mr. Lee, a smith, at Devonport, from £35 to £55 per annum, and £100 for arrears; and if the Treasury had previously, and on more than 685 one occasion, refused to re-consider his claim to the increased pension?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Sir J. T. HIBBERT, Oldham)These pensions have recently been increased at the instance of the Admiralty. The dates of the original awards were in Lee's case 1888, in Elston's 1878. No appeals for re-consideration in either case appears to have been received from the Admiralty till this year. In Lee's case a fresh Medical Report has been furnished, showing that the circumstances in which he was so injured as to be rendered incapable of self-support were such as to qualify him for an increased pension. In Elston's case the Admiralty reported that the original award was inconsistent with the established practice, and was at a lower rate than grants to other men similarly circumstanced. It has accordingly been re-calculated at that rate—namely, £69, and not £99, as stated in the question.