§ Mr. SUMMERBELLasked the President of the Local Government Board if he is aware that John Harland, of West Wear-street, Sunderland, has been deprived of his old age pension; that the facts leading up to such deprivation were that some time ago Mr. Harland visited Sunderland to get information for the purpose of obtaining his pension, that he found himself in the town without money and without friends, that he then went to the workhouse and inquired if the receipt of one night's shelter would affect his eligibility for a pension, that on being informed it would not he entered the workhouse for one night, and on account of this his pension has been stopped; and whether, in view of these facts, he is prepared to reconsider the case of this old man with a view to a restoration of his pension?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. John Burns)In this case the Local Government Board received an appeal against the decision of the local pension committee allowing the pension. They ascertained that the claimant had been admitted to the casual wards on 10th April, and had been discharged on the following day. It thus appeared that he had in fact received Poor Law relief within the period prescribed by the Old Age Pensions Act, and hence the Board had no alternative but to decide that he was disqualified, although no doubt the case was a hard one.