§ Mr. Pooleasked the Minister of Health what inquiries are made in connection with applications for supplementary grants to old age pensioners; and is it the practice to make inquiries of employers of relatives of applicants for benefit?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThe information necessary to enable the Board to assess a pensioner's need in accordance with the requirements of the Act includes the circumstances of the pensioner himself and of any dependants, and also the resources of all persons living in the same household with him. This information is obtained as far as possible by inquiry from the pensioner, but in cases of uncertainty the Board are obliged to take such steps as may be necessary to secure precise and accurate information, and where the earnings of some person are involved inquiry of the employer is sometimes the only administratively convenient and practicable means of verification.