§ 7. "That a sum, not exceeding £7,889,000, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1916, for the payment of Old Age Pensions in the United Kingdom, and for certain Administrative Expenses in connection therewith."
§ Resolutions agreed to.
§ Resolution reported,
§ 8. "That a sum, not exceeding £235,000, be granted to His Majesty to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1916, for the Payment of Grants towards the Cost of the Extension of Sanatorium Benefit to the Dependants of Insured Persons under the National Insurance Act, 1911, and of the Treatment of Tuberculosis generally."
§ Resolution read the second time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution."
§ Sir J. D. REESIs this complementary to some other large Grant? If so, what is this other large Grant? Is it necessary to proceed further in this direction at a time like this—this being, I presume, a luxury—when the country can only afford necessaries?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTS (Comptroller of the Household)I am not absolutely certain 1571 that this is a Vote for which my Department is responsible or whether it is one of the Votes which are administered by the Treasury, but so far as I understand this Vote is for money to be used for the dependants of insured persons, by agreement between the local authorities and the insurance committees, by whom the Grant is being administered. I very much regret what the hon. Member has said. I cannot imagine that he seriously means to contest this Vote. I pan only assure him that it is doing very good work for the country, and that I hope it will continue to do so.
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Resolution reported,
§ 9. "That a sum, not exceeding £42,015, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1916, for the Expenses of the High lands and Islands (Medical Service) Board, and for a Grant in Aid of the Highlands and Islands Medical Service."
§ Resolution read a second time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution."
§ Sir J. D. REESWhy under this Grant are houses provided for doctors on duty in Scotland, while no similar provision is made for medical men in England?
The SECRETARY of SCOTLAND (Mr. McKinnon Wood)This Grant is applied to sparsely-populated districts, and there are no districts in England where the circumstances are similar. There are cases where it is absolutely necessary that there should be provision of housing accommodation for the doctors, and there are no other means of making it.
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Resolutions reported,
§ 10. "That a sum, not exceeding £14,712, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1916, for making good the Deficiency on the Income Account of the Fund for Friendly Societies."