§ 1. Miss Baconasked the Minister of National Insurance how many men between the ages of 65 and 70, and women between the ages of 60 and 65 are at present receiving a pension greater than 10s. and less than 26s. per week because their earnings are between £1 and 36s.
§ The Minister of National Insurance (Mr. James Griffiths)I regret that information in the form asked for is not available. The number of persons in receipt of increased pension on retirement who report earnings necessitating adjustment of the pension is at present about 4,200 a week. In the great majority of cases the earnings arise from occasional employment leading to adjustment of the pension rate for a single week or for short periods only.
§ Miss BaconIs the Minister satisfied that that part of the Act which allows 1s. to be deducted from a pension for every 1s. earned over £1 is working satisfactorily, and can he say whether or not the 12 hours maximum imposed by the umpire applies to those earning over £1 as well as to those earning under £1?
§ Mr. GriffithsPerhaps I may reply to the second part of the supplementary question first. There is no maximum of 12 hours. If a pensioner is engaged for 12 hours nothing should be deducted from the pension. The deduction applies only when the number of hours worked exceed 12. With regard to the deduction of 1s. 952 for earnings over 20s., that provision is embodied in the Act. There are only about 4,200 cases involved in a week out of about 800,000, so that there is only a small proportion affected.