§ Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the President of the Local Government Board, in view of the difficulty of proving age for the purposes of old age pensions, if he will say in what way the census papers can be made available; to whom application should be made for their production; And the terms upon which such production can be obtained; and if he will issue rules upon the matter for the guidance of applicants?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Burns)Prior to the issue of the regulations under the Old Age Pensions Act the question was considered whether the census returns could be made available as evidence of age. The Registrar-General was consulted on the subject, and he expressed the opinion that reference to the records of the censuses of England and Wales would hardly be practicable, and would, moreover, be open to serious objections. I find from him that since then he has, at the request of the Inland Revenue authorities, caused a few searches to be made in the returns for evidence of age, but that the experiments have tended to confirm his previous opinion. In the circumstances I do not think I can take steps with a view of meeting the suggestion of the hon. Member.