§ Mr. HACKETTasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that an old age pension was granted in the following cases referred to in the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for the year 1909–10, Class 6, Vote 5, page 386, namely, that of a woman who held forty acres of land, which she had worked for years with the help of a son and daughter, and who applied for a pension which was refused on the ground of income, who then transferred the tenancy of the holding to the son, and made a fresh application, and was granted a pension of 5s., her principal source of income being fixed at the value of the board and lodging at the farm; and that of two brothers in partnership, who farmed 100 acres, the elder of whom applied for a pension in November, 1908, which was refused on the ground that his income was in excess of the statutory limit, and who made over his interest in the farm to his brother, and renewed his application with the result that he has been granted a pension of 5s. per week as from the 5th August, 1910, his income having been determined as in the previous case; whether, in view of these facts, he will instruct the pension officers in Ireland, when estimating the means or determining the income of applicants for the pension in Ireland, who may have handed over their little farms, either by deed or otherwise, according to custom, to estimate or determine on the same principle; and whether, in view of the foregoing, he will instruct the local pension officer to accordingly amend his report in the case of Mrs. Casey, Cuguilla, Templemore, county Tipperary, with a view to allow her a pension?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI am aware of the passage to which the hon. Member refers in the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Appropriation Account of the Old Age Pension Vote for 1909–10. Pension Officers in Ireland are familiar with the custom alluded to in the second part of the question, and are alive to the necessity of placing before the Local Pension Committees the information necessary for determining whether Section 4 (3) of the Old Age Pension Act should or should not be applied. No instructions in the matter are necessary. As regards the third part of the question, I am not prepared to interfere with the discretion of the Pension Officer, as to the opinion to be expressed in his report on Mrs. Casey's claim. I may, however, remind the hon. Member that the decision on the claim does not rest with the officer, and that neither the Local Committee nor the Local Government Board, in the event of an appeal, are bound to act upon his opinion.
§ Mr. BARNESasked the Prime Minister if, in the event of any amendment of the Old Age Pensions Act being considered, he will favourably consider the exemption of trades unions' and friendly societies' superannuation allowances from being counted as part income, having regard to the fact that a sum of money which would purchase an annuity of an equal amount does not disqualify, and also to the further fact that the provisions of the Act may discourage trades unions and friendly societies making provision for such superannuation?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 22nd June last to a similar question by the hon. Member for the Tottenham division. I am afraid I cannot, under present circumstances, add anything to that answer.