88 and 89. Commander Maitlandasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the high percentage of National Service men who defer their applications for National Service grants until they join their units, with consequent delay and hardship to their families; and what action he is taking, in consultation with the Minister of Labour, to make effective the arrangements for such applications to be initiated at the time of medical examination prior to call-up;
(2) whether he is aware that the average time taken for the assessment and issue of a National Service grant by his Norcross office is nine days in only 40 per cent. of cases, which, added to the time taken in the remaining procedural processes, adds up to a total of some three weeks in dealing with a normal case; and what steps he is taking to reduce this time lag in both the normal case and the remaining 60 per cent. of cases in which the issue of the grant takes more than three weeks.
§ Mr. WoodThe responsibility of my right hon. Friend in connection with National Service grants is confined to taking steps to assess and pay them on behalf of the Service Departments on receipt of an application from the man concerned. I understand from my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour that in fact the summons to a medical board prior to call-up refers to these grants, and that a reminder is given when the man actually attends the board. I am satisfied that our arrangements for assessing and paying these grants when the applications are received are as speedy as possible. Delay is sometimes occasioned by circumstances outside our control, the most18W common cause being the failure of the applicant to make a voluntary allotment from his Service pay, which is a condition precedent to the making of a grant to a single man.