§ MR. KETTLE (Tyrone, E.)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the sections of the Old-Age Pensions Act under which power has been taken to appoint two classes of pension officers for each pension district; whether he is aware that throughout the entire Act the reference is to the pension officer, and not to the pension officers, for each district, and that the same language is not repeated in the definition clause of the Treasury Regulations; and whether, in view of the fact that this duplication of officials must involve expense and delay that might have been avoided, he will take counsel's opinion as to its legality.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEPension officers are appointed by the Treasury under Section 8 (4), which provides that the Treasury may appoint such number of these officers as they think fit to act for such areas as they direct. "Pension officer" is defined in the Regulations to mean the pension officer to whom any claim or question is referred. I see no reason to doubt the legality of these arrangements, nor does it seem to me that any other scheme would prove more economical.