§ 28. Mr. STEWARTasked the Undersecretary whether he is aware that Harry Ledsom, No. 22792, 4th Reserve Dragoons, of Heswall, Cheshire, aged between eighteen and nineteen years, was passed as fit by an Army medical board contrary to the certificate of his family doctor, which he produced to the board, and that he joined up on 6th March and was sent to Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, on 2nd April, and was eventually sent home in charge of an escort on 3rd June, where he died on 24th June; whether the illness from which he suffered was in any way caused or aggravated by his military duties or was due to his original condition before joining the Army; whether he is aware that his mother now only receives 3s. 9d. per week as dependant's allowance for her other son, who is serving East of Suez; and will the War Office say what they are now prepared to do for the mother of these two boys?
§ Mr. FORSTERI am making inquiry and will write to my hon. Friend later.
§ 30. Mr. P. A. HARRISasked whether, in those cases where soldiers are working for farmers and living in their own homes, it is proposed to withdraw separation and family allowances as from the 5th July; what rate of wages will such men be paid; and if he will consider the desirability under such circumstances of discharging the men and employing them as civilians?
§ Mr. FORSTERThe allowances in question cease as from the 5th, 7th, or 8th, of July, according to the nature of the allowances. The soldier living at home will in future receive from the farmer an allowance to cover his beard and lodging and the full civilian local rate of wage on a living-in basis; also, from Army funds, his Army pay for Sundays. If the living-in rate and the Army pay do not amount together to as much as his ordinary Army pay the difference will be made up from Army funds.
§ 39. Mr. JOWETTasked the President of the Local Government Board, respecting the case of a man, crippled by paralysis, whose four sons are in the Army, and who has a wife and daughter to maintain on a total income of 30s. a week, out of which 7s. has to be paid for rent and 4s. 6d. for insurance, whether the man has any claim under the Regulations governing payments of supplementary allowances by the local war pensions committee and the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Committee for assistance out of public funds through either or both of these committees; and if he will state shortly and in simple language what procedure the man should adopt in order to bring his case before each of these bodies and get an early decision on it?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of PENSIONS (Colonel Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen)It is not possible, on the information given by the hon. Member, to state whether the man to whom his question refers is entitled to any supplementary allowance. If he will place the full particulars of his case before the local war pensions committee, it will be inquired into at once.
§ 62. Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALDasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is in a position to state the result of his inquiries into the adequacy of separation allowances paid to soldiers' families; and, if not now, when he proposes to make a statement on the subject?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI regret that I am not yet in a position to answer this question, but the War Cabinet Committee, to which this question has been referred, hopes to be able to render its Report within the next fortnight.
§ 79. Colonel ASHLEYasked the Pensions Minister whether he will give some information as to the composition of the Appeal Tribunal which deals with the cases of officers who claim that their disability is owing to or was aggravated by military service but who have been unsuccessful in obtaining pensions; whether it includes legal as well as medical members; when and where it sits; and whether he will state the steps necessary for an officer to take who desires to bring his case before such a tribunal?
§ Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWENThe Appeals Board is constituted as follows: Chairman, Sir Ernest Pollock, K.C., M.P.; Sir Frederick Taylor, Bart., F.R.C.P.; Sir Alfred Pearce Gould, F.R.C.S.; Captain Albert Smith, M.P. The board meets at intervals, as the cases' to be dealt with require, at Bridgewater House, St. James's. An officer whose appeal to the Ministry of Pensions has been considered and rejected, may ask the Ministry for it to be referred to the Appeals Board. This is then arranged and the officer informed of the date and place.