§ 35. Captain AINSWORTHasked the Minister of Pensions whether the delay in respect of applications for grants recommended by the Bury War Pensions Committee can be obviated to a very large extent; whether applicants for grants are suffering great inconvenience and hardship and, in some cases, entire loss of the business which they proposed to embark upon; whether members of the local committee who voluntarily give much of their time to this work feel that their time is entirely wasted; and is he aware that numerous letters have been directed to the chief of the Department concerned and 786 also one to the Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, and that such letters have not even been acknowledged?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of LABOUR (Mr. Wardle)I have been asked to reply to this question. As has already been stated in reply to other hon. Members, the Department is going thoroughly into the position with regard to delays in respect to Civil Liabilities Grants, and hopes to effect an improvement in the near future Arrangements are being made for an officer of the Department to visit Bury during the present week in order to go into the special points raised by the local committee on the spot.