Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture. – in the House of Commons at on 16 October 1941.
Mr Francis Douglas
, Battersea North
asked the Minister of Health whether he will publish a consolidated summary of the Acts and Regulations relating to old age and widows' pensions, respectively, for the assistance of the many persons concerned?
Mr Ernest Brown
, Leith
I am satisfied that in present circumstances the publication of such a summary would not be justified. Leaflets explaining the conditions for the award of old age and widows' pensions are available at all post offices.
Mr. McNeil:
asked the Minister of Health how many additional applications from old age pensioners he estimated would be made following the annulment of the household means test on 1st July, 1941; for how many the Assistance Board made staff preparations; and whether since the number of supplementary pensions has risen by only 100,000 by the end of July, he has any explanation to offer for the difference?
Mr Ernest Brown
, Leith
The Assistance Board inform me that they made their arrangements on the basis that the number of new supplementary pensions resulting from the new legislation might reach 250,000. There were, however, no data on which a close estimate could be based. The Board are making inquiries into the extent to which pensioners who applied unsuccessfully for supplementary pensions under the previous Regulations may have failed to realise that a fresh application is necessary if they wish their cases to be reconsidered. As I stated in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelly (Mr. J. Griffiths) on Tuesday last, the number of persons already receiving supplementary pensions who benefited from the provisions of the new legislation up to August last was about 216,000.
Mr. McNeil:
Is the Minister aware that it is my experience, and the experience of many Members of this House, that these pensioners are not aware of their new rights and will he take steps to publicise their rights before the onset of winter?
Mr Ernest Brown
, Leith
I will do my best, and I am obliged to the hon. Member for raising the matter. I am sure it will do good. I would like to inform the House that the Board have decided to examine all "nil" cases with a view to making a further approach to pensioners who appear to be entitled to a supplementary pension.
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.
