§ Mr. ROWLANDSasked the Secretary to the Treasury, whether he was aware that there were cases in the Erith and Sutton-at-Hone districts in which old age pensioners had not received their new pension books, causing their pensions to be some time overdue; and whether he could arrange that the new books shall be promptly delivered to the people entitled to have them?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI regret that some of the pension books in these districts were not delivered until 15th July. In a certain number of cases the pensioners were absent from home, or had removed elsewhere. The work of delivery is very heavy, especially in certain districts, but arrangements have been made by which, it is hoped, that it will be expedited on future occasions.
§ Mr. SNOWDENasked in how many districts the new pension order books were not completely delivered on 1st July; and what steps the Board of Customs and Excise propose to take to prevent a repetition of the inconvenience caused to old age pensioners by the non-delivery?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThere were 1,131 pension areas in which the delivery was not complete before the 1st July. In 914 of those areas the delay was due to causes outside the Officer's control, such as illness or absence of the pensioner. As I stated in the House yesterday, I have now made arrangements for increasing the number of Excise officers available for the delivery of pension books, and I hope that the number of cases apart from cases of pensioners being away from home, etc., where the books are not delivered in time will be reduced to very small dimensions.