§ 43. Mr. Hargreavesasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will now give details of the proposal to supplement the allowances of railway super-annuitants as from 25th April.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Miss Ward) on 27th April.
§ Mr. HargreavesI thank the Minister for the letter which he addressed to me on the subject. Is he aware that this scheme will affect only about 2,500 out of the 34,000 long-standing railway super-annuitants? Is it possible for him to represent to the Commission the fact that the lump sum payment of one year's salary which is made upon retirement is assumed to produce annually one-tenth of that amount, and is taken into account in assessing the pensions of these people?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI cannot give the exact number of those concerned, because the cases will have to be looked at one by one, as the hon. Gentleman will appreciate. I believe that the number affected is somewhat larger than he has suggested. Upon his other point, I take note of what he said.