§ MR. R. HARCOURT (Montrose Burghs)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor 1778 of the Exchequer whether a claimant, otherwise duly qualified, must under the Old-Age Pensions Act be refused a pension on the sole ground of residence abroad during fourteen of the last twenty years; and whether a pension officer is bound to refuse such a claim under recent regulations on the ground that eight years absence must be the limit, or whether some discretion can be allowed in this respect.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThe matter is governed by Section 2 (2) of the Act and Article 29 of the Regulations, to which I may perhaps refer my hon. friend. He will see from that Regulation that the exceptions are much wider than his Question suggests. The section of the Act to which I have referred requires the term "residence" to be defined by regulations. It would not, therefore, be possible to leave it to the discretion of the pension authorities.