§ 11. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that billeting officers are prevented from securing first-class accommodation for boys being trained for the mines and other industries in many cases because of the effect on supplementary pensions; that people cooperating in the war effort have accepted such boys after which their supplementary pensions have been reduced, in one case to 1s. a week; and will he take steps to restore the pre-billeting payment and cancel the operation of the regulation in cases of this kind for the period of the war.
§ The Minister of Health (Mr. Willink)I understand that some householders have been unwilling to provide lodgings for mining trainees for the reason mentioned by my hon. Friend, but no serious difficulty has been experienced. I am informed by the Assistance Board that payments made by the trainees for their lodgings are treated in the same way as payments made by any other boarders, the normal rule being to regard as a resource of the pensioner one half of the amount by which the payment made by the boarder exceeds 18s.