§ MR. R. PEARCE (Staffordshire, Leek)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether arrangements can be made for payment next year of Army and Navy pensions by weekly instalments through the Post Office, in the same way as contemplated for old-age pensions.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) As I informed the hon. Member for North Salford on the 25th February last, arrangements have been made for monthly or weekly payment of Army pensions through boards of guardians or otherwise in individual cases where the pensioners so desire or when the pensioner is of such a character as to make this course desirable. But as pensions are paid quarterly in advance, to introduce universal weekly payments would not in the majority of cases be in the interests of the pensioners. The question of making weekly payments through the Post Office will be considered when the arrangements for the payment of old-age pensions are in working order.