§ Mr. LAWSONasked the Minister of Pensions whether he can state the estimated cost of the Special Grants Committee and their staff for the year ending 31st March, 1923; whether that Committee acts on the recommendation of War. Pensions Committees throughout the country; and whether he will transfer the duties of the Special Grants Committee to regional and area, committees, the members of which bodies are in personal contact with applicants, with a view to greater efficiency and saving in the public money at present spent on the Committee and their staff?
Captain CRAIGThe amount provided in the Estimates for the expenses of the staff of the Special Grants Committee for the year ending the 31st instant was £42,338. It is estimated, however, that the actual expenditure will fall short of that amount by over 25 per cent. The Special Grants Committee in certain parts of their work obtain the recommendations of War Pensions Committees and they take these recommendations into consideration carefully when considering the facts of cases brought before them. The question of decentralizing the work of the Committee was fully considered by the Departmental Committee of Inquiry, who recommended that, on grounds both of efficiency and economy, this work should remain centralised.