135. Lieut. - Commander Hutchisonasked the Minister of Pensions why a man who is in receipt of retired pay or a pension under Article 10 of the Royal Warrant and who is certified by his doctor as being unfit to perform any kind of work for a year, is ineligible for a special unemployable allowance under Article 15; and why, and on what authority, his Department is interpreting the term unemployable in Article 15 as meaning permanently unemployable.
§ Mr. Wilfred PalingThe special unemployable allowance was introduced for the man whose pensionable disablement makes it unlikely that he will ever be fit again for normal employment. The White Paper, and the statements made in this House on 20th July, 1943, show that it was not intended for the man who, after treatment and rehabilitation and, if necessary, training, could be expected once more to enter the employment field, and it would be psychologically unwise to label such a man as unemployable. There is another provision in the Royal Warrant for certain cases where prolonged abstention from work is necessary following in-patient treatment.