§ Mr. J. Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that men serving in the Forces have in some cases made application for the appropriate forms to apply for special allowances and have been informed by their commanding officers that they have no knowledge of such forms; and will he take steps to secure that these forms are made available to the men?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaI have no knowledge of such cases, but I have again taken steps to bring the procedure and the forms to the notice of all concerned.
§ Mr. Edeasked the Secretary of State for War what is approximately the time taken between the submission of an application to the Military Service (Special Allowances) Advisory Committee and the announcement of a decision?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaExamination of a recent batch of claims shows that it took two to three weeks in the normal type of case. Each case has to be investigated locally before the Committee make their recommendation.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction of dependants, arising from the operation of Army Order 170; that under its terms certain parents are penalised and widows are refused allowances for their sons; that final decisions are given by regimental paymasters without opportunity for appeal; and whether he proposes to take steps to revise the terms of the order and method of administering it?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaSo far as I am aware, the cases in which an allowance is refused are those in which the soldier1242W was not making an appropriate net contribution to the dependant, before he was called up, or the income of the dependant's household exceeds certain limits, or the dependant is outside certain degrees of relationship, or (except in the case of, for example, a widowed mother) is capable of self support. In the last type of case, it is open to the Military Service (Special Allowances) Advisory Committee to recommend grants of an interim nature to persons who though not incapable of work are unable to find work.