Sir J. DAVIDSONasked the Lord Privy Seal the total sum expended under the Pension (Increases) Act, 1920, in the actual payment of pensions and in administration, including the investigation into the circumstances of the pensioner, respectively; and whether the latter sum will be a recurring charge upon the Exchequer?
§ Mr. BALDWINThe cost of the increases to Government pensioners payable during the current financial year is in the neighbourhood of £1,000,000. In addition a proportion of the cost (as to which figures are not available) of increasing the pensions of ex-policemen in Great Britain will fall upon the Exchequer. It is impossible to give an estimate of the cost of administering the Pensions (Increase) Act because the work is for the most part carried out in conjunction with other duties and no records are kept of the proportion of each officer's time which is devoted to work connected with the Act. It is safe to say, however, that the cost of administration is an infinitesimal fraction of the total expenditure involved.