§ Mr. CHIOZZA MONEYasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, for the end of June, 1911, or for the latest date for which the figures are available, for England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales respectively, the number of old age pensioners, and the aggregate amount of the pensions paid?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe total number of pensions payable on the last Friday in June, 1911, was as follows:—
England and Wales … 622,434 Scotland … 92,465 Ireland … 202,373 The actual amounts paid by the Post Office in respect of pensions in the week ended 29th June, 1911, were:—
England and Wales … £143,894 Scotland … 22,079 Ireland … 49,622 United Kingdom … £215,595 NOTE.—These figures are abnormally low. The average of the four weeks ended 29th June was:—
England and Wales … £148,685 Scotland … 22,219 Ireland … 49,409 United Kingdom … £220,313
§ Sir JOHN BRIGGasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amount of the 343W £12,415,000 estimated to be the cost of old age pensions for the year 1911–12 is to be payable in Ireland?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI will refer the hon. Member to the reply of my right hon. Friend the Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. and learned Member for South Tyrone on 5th April last.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland why the old age pension of Patrick Harte, Calga, Calry, county Sligo, was stopped by the Local Government Board?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe case of Patrick Harte has not come before the Local Government Board for consideration.
§ Mr. BEALEasked the Lord Advocate whether the old age pension applied for by Mrs. Fulton, of 128, Barrhill Road, Cumnock, over seventy years of age and not disqualified on any other ground, was refused by the pension officer and the Local Government Board on appeal on the ground that her yearly income was alleged to be over £31; whether, in estimating her income, the full letting value, stated at £23, of a house which she was allowed to occupy out of charity was treated as part of her income, although the actual value of the occupation to her was not and could not be made such as oh any reasonable estimate to bring her total income to a sum amounting or nearly amounting to £31 a year; and whether the Secretary for Scotland can and will cause this refusal to be reconsidered, or the regulations and instructions of the Local Government Board amended, so as to permit of the pension being granted on a new application?
§ Mr. UREAn application by Mrs. Fulton for a pension was refused by the local pension committee, and their decision was upheld on appeal by the Local Government Board for Scotland, who were satisfied that Mrs. Fulton's yearly income, as calculated in terms of Section 4 of the Old Age Pension Act, exceeded £31 10s. per annum. The applicant enjoys the privilege of free residence in a house the annual value of which is said to be not less than £20, together with support from her family estimated as equal in value to 6s. per week. The decision of the Local Government Board on an appeal is final and conclusive, and cannot be reconsidered. It is, however, open to Mrs. Fulton to make a fresh claim if and when her circumstances alter.