§ Mr. Manderasked the Attorney-General the percentage of appeals allowed in cases presented to each of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals now sitting, respectively.
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§ The Attorney-GeneralIn general the composition of the different Tribunals varies from month to month and many chairmen sit with different members in different cities. I have not separate figures for cases decided at different sessions, but I will give the total figures for the whole of the United Kingdom. Up to 30th September, 8,684 appeals had been decided by the Tribunals sitting in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively, of which some 28 per cent. were successful.
§ Mr. W. J. Brownasked the Secretary of State for War what progress his Department has made with the payment of increased pensions under the recent Pensions (Increase) Act to Army pensioners.
Sir J. Grig;g;Some 10,000 awards have already been made to the various classes of Army pensioners covered by the Pensions Increase Warrant. The rate at which further awards can be made is largely dependent on the provision of the necessary clerical staff, of which at the moment there is a serious shortage.
§ Mr. Manderasked the Minister of Pensions if he will consider setting up an assessment tribunal to hear appeals resulting from decisions of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals in cases where the appellant is dissatisfied with the Minister's subsequent assessment.
§ Sir W. WomersleyI am not satisfied that the time has yet arrived when it would be practicable or desirable to set up Assessment Appeal Tribunals generally, and it would clearly cause dissatisfaction if Tribunals were set up to deal with certain selected cases. I am always ready to reconsider any case where objection is taken to the assessed degree of disablement.