§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the pension officer is entitled to appeal when a pension has been refused by the pension committee under the Old Age Pensions Act; is there any case of the pension officer so appealing; and, if so, will he state how many; and whether in England, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEUnder Section 7 (1) (c) of the Old Age Pensions Act, a pension officer may appeal against a decision of a local pension committee refusing a pension. As a general rule, however, pension officers do not appeal in such cases, as it is considered that if a claimant is dissatisfied with a refusal of a committee to award a pension, he himself is the proper person to enter an appeal to the Local Government Board. There has been a small number of cases of pension officers so appealing, but no precise statistics are available.
§ Mr. KENNEDYMay I ask whether the chief function of pension officers is to object to pensions when they are granted?
Mr. HOBHQUSENo, there is no chief function at all. All their function is to see that the person who is entitled to a pension gets it, and that the person who is not entitled should not get it.
§ Mr. KENNEDYWhy is it that they do not appeal when the pension is refused?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI have already stated there is a small number of cases in which they have so appealed, but in every case the person who does not get a pension is entitled himself to appeal to the Local Government Board.
§ Mr. KENNEDYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that these poor pensioners are not in a position to appeal?