– in the House of Commons at on 14 March 1929.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
asked the Minister of Health the total number of applications for widows' pensions in Great Britain under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, together with the number of claims rejected?
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN:
The total number of applications for widows' pensions in England and Wales received up to 7th March, 1929, was 350,400, of which 62,416 were rejected. Of this number of rejections 44,773 had reference to applications for non-contributory pensions, i.e., applications from widows whose husbands died before the commencement of the Act. As regards the position in Scotland, a question should be addressed to the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
asked the Minister of Health how many widows in Great Britain have qualified for pensions under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act by reason of having children under the age of 14; and how many widows have lost their claim to entitlement by reason of their youngest child having attained the age of 14½ years?
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
asked the Minister of Health if he can give any estimate of the extra cost to the State of granting an old age pension at 65 to the wives of insured men who were over 70 years of age on the 2nd January, 1928?
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN:
It was estimated that on 2nd January, 1928, the number of wives between the ages of 65 and 70 of men who were over 70 on that date was 45,000. It is estimated that the cost of providing pensions for these 45,000 wives while between the ages of 65 and 70 would have been approximately £1,000,000 in the first year.
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
Can the right hon. Gentleman give the total cost to the State, over a period, of the lives of these persons?
Mr Robert Taylor
, Lincoln
Will the right hon. Gentleman consider the promotion of a short Bill to remedy this injustice before the Session ends?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
