§ 35. Mr. Lowasked the Minister of Pensions what is the normal delay between the notice of appeal against a pension assessment and the completion of the statement of the case by his Department.
§ Mr. MarquandNormally about 13 weeks.
§ Mr. LowCan the right hon. Gentleman explain why in the case of one of my constituent the delay was well over eight months? Does he not agree that this operates with great hardship on the appellant, and, bearing in mind that the Ministry have had the facts of the case since 1945, how can the Minister justify the delay of that length?
§ Mr. MarquandThe particular case to which the hon. Member refers, which he has not mentioned in the Question, was a very unusual one, in which the appellant, after sending in his appeal, mentioned other disabilities. He was admitted to hospital for investigation and was there for 3½ weeks. Later, he said that he was suffering from yet another disease, for which he had to have a blood test and an examination by a tropical diseases specialist. Of course, in a case like that, if we are to be fair to the man, time must be taken in examining all the particulars.