§ Mr. RENDALLasked the Secretary of State for War whether the police are invited by the War Office to give hostile reports as regards the wives of soldiers on service, with the result that wives are deprived of their allowances without their husbands being even informed of the fact?
§ Sir J. CRAIGI have been asked to reply to this question. If allegations are made as to the conduct of the wife of a soldier on service, the matter is referred to the Special Grants Committee, whose duty it is, under Section 3 (1,f)of the Naval and Military War Pensions Act, 1915, to decide whether or not the allowance has become forfeited. To assist them in making a decision, the Committee institute inquiries through various agencies, including, in some cases, the police. Whenever an allowance is declared forfeited the husband is informed. I may add that in a large proportion of the cases decided by the Committee it is the husband who lodged the complaint.