42. Mr. Patonasked the Minister of National Insurance the numbers of men and women, respectively, in receipt of retirement pensions on 5th April, 1949, who were receiving supplementary allowances on the maximum scale.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsSupplementary grants made by the National Assistance Board vary according to need and there is no figure which could properly be described as a maximum grant. I regret therefore that I am unable to give the information for which my hon. Friend asks.
Mr. PatonIs it not the case that there are maximum scales and an uppermost limit which can be granted by the National Assistance Board, and since those limits are applied to people without resources is my right hon. Friend satisfied that existing scales, which were fixed at a time when the cost of living was six points lower than it is now, are satisfactory in existing circumstances?
§ Mr. GriffithsI am not sure that my hon. Friend's figures are correct. The existing scales were fixed last July, and represented a substantial advance on the previous scales.