§ Mr. R. McNEILLasked the Postmaster-General if Mr. J. H. Smith, now residing in Tankerton, Kent, who retired from the service of the Post Office on the 1st February, 1916, after more than 40 years' service, was officially notified by the Accountant-General's Department of the Post Office in November, 1920, that his pension had been increased by £46 a year under the Pensions (Increase) Act, 1920, being at the same time provided with a receipt form enabling him to obtain payment of arrears as from the 1st April, 1920; whether this pensioned ex-civil servant has now been informed that the Government Department made a mistake in so increasing his pension, which should only have been increased by £34 10s. instead of £46, Mr. Smith being a widower, and that the amount overpaid by the Department will have to be refunded by Mr. Smith either in a lump sum or by instalments; whether such a demand is one very difficult to meet for a person dependent on so small an income as Mr. Smith's pension; and whether he will give instructions that the amount be made good by the Department responsible for the error or by the individual official who made the mistake?
§ Mr. PEASEThe circumstances are as stated. I am in correspondence with the Treasury as to the course to be followed in cases of the kind.