§ Mr. STRANGERasked the Minister of Pensions whether he is aware that Mr. William James Barrett, of 13, Welford Lane, Newbury, Berkshire, fought in the Boer war and was granted a pension in respect of that war service, and that he fought in the recent war and was granted a disablement temporary pension in respect of that war service; that the Ministry claims there was an overpayment of £27 16s. in respect of pension; that £9 11s. has been waived and that an attempt is being made to recover the sum of £18 5s. representing a year's alleged overpayment by deduction from the pension to the man; and that the man has become chargeable to the local union; and whether, in view of all the circumstances of the case and that the man is without means, he will waive the demand for repayment and allow the pension to be paid in full without deduction?
Mr. ROBERTSThe overpayment in question was due to the fact that pension in respect of former war service was, for a period of 18 months, paid to the man concurrently both by my Department and by the War Office. After further investigation into the facts of this case, I am advised that the man's statement that he was unaware of error in the duplicate payment may, in the circumstances, be accepted; consequently, under the recent concession sanctioned by the Treasury for such cases, it has been directed that further recovery of the overissue shall be waived.