§ Lieut.-Commander Tufnellasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether, in the case of men of 65 years of age who are pensioned, he will state the cost of equally giving their wives a pension even though they have not attained the age of 65, but if they have been married to the men in question for over 10 years?
§ Lieut.-Colonel ColvilleThe cost of granting pensions to the wives of contributory pensioners in cases where the wife had not attained the age of 65 would be £6,500,000 a year, rising to £8,000,000 a year in 10 years' time. This estimate does not include the cost of the further extensions which would appear to be1140W inevitable if the proposal were adopted and which would probably more than double the expenditure. There are, I fear, no data available from which the cost could be calculated of an extension of pensions restricted to cases where the wife has been married to the pensioner for over 10 years.