§ Mr. Tinkerasked the Minister of Health how many persons are engaged on the 1832W task of inquiring, examining and determining the claims of the supplementary old age pensions; and the approximate annual cost for this work to be done?
§ Mr. E. Brown,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th November, 1941; col. 887, Vol 376], supplied the following information:
As indicated in the reply to my hon. Friend, the staff of the Assistance Board is engaged in a variety of duties and none is exclusively employed on supplementary pensions work. On the basis of an inquiry made about a year ago it is estimated that at the present time the administration of supplementary pensions accounts for the equivalent of about 7,000 members of the Board's staff, and its cost (including travelling, services rendered by other Government Departments, and other overhead expanses, is at the rate of about £2,250,000 to £2,500,000 a year.