§ Mr. CULLINANasked the Chief Secretary whether he will advise the Local Government Board to adopt the system suggested for the guidance of pension officers of having a couple of expert commissioners appointed to inquire into a few test cases in each county, to form a practical basis of estimate of the cost of maintenance of persons applying for old age pensions, and substitute it for the present rule-of-thumb methods of calculation?
§ Mr. BIRRELLNo useful object could be served by attempting to decide the means of claimants on the basis of test cases. No two cases are the same, and every appeal must be decided on its own merits. Where sufficient information is unobtainable by correspondence, it is always open to the Local Government Board to send an inspector to visit the applicant and make further inquiries, and this is done in hundreds of cases.