§ 23. Colonel ASHLEYasked the Pensions Minister whether, in view of the promise given by the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Pensions on the 12th November last to consider the cases of men partly disabled in former wars who have been debarred from the benefits of the Royal Warrant of September, 1918, on the ground that their disablement is not among those specified in the First Schedule of the Royal Warrant of 1917, he will favourably review the case of Sidney Bedford, who was seriously injured in a railway accident near Barberton, Transvaal, during the Boer War whilst serving with the 2nd Volunteer Active Service Company of the 2nd Hants Regiment, and whose pension of 1s. 3d. per diem, granted as far back as 1902, has never been raised, although in the mean-time his injuries have grown steadily worse, necessitating three operations; and whether, if his pension cannot now be placed on the level fixed for men similarly injured in this War, the Ministry will consider the extension to him of the treatment allowances laid down in the Royal Warrant of 1918, in view of the fact that he is still under the necessity of attending hospital every day?
§ Sir J. CRAIGMy hon. Friend is presumably referring to the statement made by the late Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry that the question of extending the benefits of the former War Warrants to other classes of partially disabled men was under consideration. The extension, if decided upon, would have been by further Warrant, as individual cases can only be considered on the basis of existing Warrants. I regret that I have no power to pay treatment allowances to Mr. Bedford, or to consider his case under the Royal Warrant of September, 1918. If, however, he is in fact totally incapacitated from work by reason of the disability for which he was discharged, he may be granted an increased pension of 27s. 6d. a week, under the Warrant of April, 1918, for the period during which the total incapacity lasts. My right hon. Friend has therefore issued instructions for Mr. Bedford to be examined by a medical board.