49. Mr. WESTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of granting pensions at the rate of£1 per week when single and £1 10s. for married couples on retirement after 60 years of age, assuming that 50 per cent. of those eligible take advantage of the scheme in 1935.
Mr. CHAMBERLAINVery full information on this subject was given by the then Financial Secretary in his speech in the House on the 21st February last. The hon. Member will no doubt appreciate that calculations of this sort involve very considerable labour. I hope, therefore, that he will again study the speech in question and consider whether the figures there given showing a net cost of £279,000,000 a year, though 208 based on rather different assumptions, do not really give him in general the information which he requires.