§ 10. Mr. MIDDLETONasked the Minister of Pensions what was the amount of advances made to men owing to papers not arriving from the issue office at the proper time during the 12 months ended December last, and the number of cases in which such advances were made by area offices?
§ Major TRYONThe amount asked for in the first part of the question is £141,000, which compares with the figure of £270,000 for 1921. The former figure includes a sum of £35,000 in respect of Ireland South, due to interruptions of postal arrangements, and, of the remainder, 67 per cent. was paid in the first six months of the year. I regret that I have no particulars of the number of cases. As I have previously pointed out, these advances are largely due to delay on the part of pensioners in completing life certificates.