§ 11. Mr. ROBERT RICHARDSONasked the Minister of Pensions whether he has received any complaints with respect to the delay in issuing pensions to the widows of deceased ex-service men in the North-Western region; what is the average time between the death of an ex-service man and the issue of a pension to his widow; and whether he will take steps to secure that appeals by widows to the pensions appeal tribunal should be heard within four weeks of the original claim being rejected by the Ministry of Pensions?
§ Major TRYONI have received occasional complaints of the kind referred to. Where the man was not a pensioner, or dies of a disability other than that for which pension was granted, some time must necessarily be occupied in deciding the application. In a large number of cases the information submitted with the claim is very incomplete and must be supplemented by evidence collected from various sources by the Ministry. These inquiries are made in the widow's interest and with the sole object of endeavouring to establish connection between the fatal disability and service.
It would not be practicable, or in the widow's interest, to make any hard and fast rule that appeals should be heard within a given time. In no case can an appeal be prepared for the tribunal until the widow has lodged her appeal and the 700 supporting evidence, which is often some time after notification of rejection of the original claim.