§ Mr. WHITELEYasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the system of awarding and paying old age pensions by local areas under the supervision of officers of Customs and Excise has been satisfactory from the administrative standpoint; what was the number of cases current on 31st December last; and the number of cases of fraud reported to the Department during 1927?
Mr. SAMUELThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The number of non-contributory pensions under the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908 to 1924, in payment in England, Wales and Scotland on the 31st December, 1927, including pensions under the Blind Persons Act, 1920, was 1,010,417. The number of cases under consideration on that date but not settled was 15,517. The number of cases of fraud dealt with in 1927 was 141.