§ Mr. Perkinsasked the Minister of Health whether he will investigate the possibilities of allowing persons over the age of 55 to qualify for the old age pension at 65 under the proposed Act by paying arrears of weekly contributions?
§ Sir K. WoodI have given very careful consideration to this question but regret496W that I am unable to adopt the suggestion that persons over the specified age should be allowed to enter the scheme on payment of a lump sum representing the contributions which would have been paid from their 55th birthday if the scheme had then been in operation.