24. Mr. ROBINSONasked the Minister of Health, seeing that the agents of a number of approved societies are informing insured persons who were aged 65 prior to 1st January, 1927, that they must continue paying contributions until the end of 1928, if he will give further publicity by a notification in the Press to the fact that a person unemployed, or who is paying a full contribution as though he were a voluntary contributor, need not pay contributions this year to ensure the receipt of an old age pension in January next if he or she has been insured five years, paid 104 contributions, and not less than 39 contributions in each of the two insurance years immediately preceding 1st January, 1927?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI have received no information which would lead me to suppose that the agents of approved societies are requiring their members to pay contributions unnecessarily, and I do not consider it necessary or desirable 1350 to publish a statement to the effect suggested by the hon. Member. In order that persons in the position which he describes may qualify for old age pensions at the 2nd January, 1928, they must still be insured persons at that date, that is to say, they must not have exhausted the free period of insurance allowed after the last payment of contributions. The question whether any voluntary payment of contributions in 1927 is required to secure this result in a particular case depends on the insured person's record with his approved society.