§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, since the Old Age Pensions Act came into operation any change has been made in the estimated value of maintenance, or in the mode of estimating it or the circumstances affecting it, for the purposes of that Act; on what scale it is now estimated in urban districts and in rural districts in England and in Ireland, respectively; with whom rests the power of discrimination to alter the scale according to the prevalent standard of living; whether he is aware that this power of discrimination is, in effect, a power to overestimate the value of maintenance when the person resided with is comfortable and to underestimate the necessaries of life when the claimant decides, on grounds of affinity, to reside with a very poor person, in both cases reducing the pension from the normal scale; will he state how these results are reconciled with a common standard of living; whether the opinion of the medical officer is obtained in all cases before the scale pension is diminished; what is the actual scale of pensions in cases in which this discrimination has been exercised in England and in Ireland, respectively; whether in either country the rental or valuation of the home in which the claimant resides affects the amount of the pension; and if, to illustrate the effect, he will give, without names, the rent or valuation and pension in ten sample cases in each country in which the discrimination in question has been exercised?
Mr. ROBERTSONThe yearly value accruing to a claimant for an old age pension in respect of free board and lodging enjoyed by him is, and always has been, determined by the pension officer in accordance with the provisions of the Old Age Pension Act of 1908, and is estimated by reference to all the facts bearing on the standard of living of the person with whom the claimant resides. No change has been introduced since the Act came into force in the general principles on which the value of such maintenance is estimated, though the experience of four years' administration has naturally led to modifications of practice in matters of details from time to time. The rest of the points raised in the hon. Member's question appear to be based on the incorrect assumption that a scale is in force for general application in assessing the value of maintenance.