§ Sir M. MACDONALDasked the Minister of Pensions whether he is aware that his Ministry, having stopped paying 498W a pension to John Macdonald, No. 16,991, Scots Guards, on the 15th January, 1923, refuses to pay for the period from that date to the 30th May, 1923, on which date a claim was made against the decision of his Ministry and which the Appeal Tribunal decided in favour of the applicant; will he now order the payment of the money due for the period referred to; and will he abolish the rule which prevents payment in such cases unless the claim is made within two months?
Mr. MUIRThe general rule of the Ministry is to pay pension in cases of appeal from the date on which the appeal was made. The two months' extension of this rule, referred to by the hon. Member, is allowed as a reasonable period within which any man dissatisfied with the decision of the Ministry should be able to lodge an appeal. My right hon. Friend is, however, looking into the existing rules as to arrears, and if they are found to be working inequitably, they will be amended.
§ Mr. AYLESasked the Minister of Pensions (1) whether he will give instructions that in all cases where claims are allowed the present practice, viz., of paying the claimant from the current date, and leaving the man to find out whether or no any arrears may be due to him, is to be discontinued, and that the allowance be paid as from the date on which it became payable;
(2) whether he will give instructions that when a renewal or increase of pension results from a successful appeal, such renewal or increase should commence from the date of the medical board against whose assessment he has appealed, and not from the date of the man's application for leave to appeal, as at present?
Mr. ROBERTSThe date from which any award of pension is properly payable is the date from which it is determined that the man's condition justifies that award, whether the award is made on a first claim or follows on the result of appeal. This general rule has been allowed to be modified in the practice of the Ministry to the extent that in the case of a first claim payment is made from the date of the man's claim and in the case of appeal from the date of the appeal. In all such cases any arrears due 499W are paid automatically without application on the man's part. Exceptional cases in which it appears that the circumstances of the case justify arrears from an anterior date can be and are specially considered. I am, however, looking into the working of the rules as to arrears.