HC Deb 21 March 1911 vol 23 cc227-8
Mr. SPEAR

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether portions of the Greenwich Hospital Pension Fund have been used for other than pension purposes; if so, for what purposes have they been so used; and, seeing that a number of men who are entitled to an increase of fivepence per day on reaching the age of fifty-five cannot be paid through lack of funds, whether he will promote the repayment to the fund of sums equal in amount to those which have been used for other than pension purposes?

The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. McKenna)

Portions of the income of Greenwich Hospital are necessarily used for purposes other than for the payment of pensions, as for example the upkeep of the estates in the north of England and at Greenwich, repair and maintenance of buildings, administration, and other charges. The hon. Member will find a full statement of the capital and income accounts for 1909–10 in the White Paper presented annually to this House. With regard to the last part of the question, as I stated in reply to the hon. Member for Devonport on the 6th of this month, a substantial grant is made annually from naval funds towards the cost of Greenwich Hospital pensions.