§ Mr. D. G. SOMERVILLEasked the Minister of Health if he can state the number of applications for widows pensions that have been made during the present year; the number that have been refused; and the reasons for the majority of these refusals?
§ Mr. GREENWOOD264,167 applications for widows' pensions have been made in Great Britain during the present year and up to date 8,755 of these have been rejected. In the case of the rejections of applications for widows' pensions under the provisions of the Contributory Pensions Act, 1929, the chief cause of rejection has been that the husband was not of the insurable class, while in the case of applications for pension under the conditions of the 1925 Act the majority of rejections were on the ground that the insurance and contribution conditions of that Act were not satisfied.