asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will now give details of the proposal to supplement the allowances of railway super-annuitants as from 25th April.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Miss Ward) on 27th April.

I thank the Minister for the letter which he addressed to me on the subject. Is he aware that this scheme will affect only about 2,500 out of the 34,000 long-standing railway super-annuitants? Is it possible for him to represent to the Commission the fact that the lump sum payment of one year's salary which is made upon retirement is assumed to produce annually one-tenth of that amount, and is taken into account in assessing the pensions of these people?

I cannot give the exact number of those concerned, because the cases will have to be looked at one by one, as the hon. Gentleman will appreciate. I believe that the number affected is somewhat larger than he has suggested. Upon his other point, I take note of what he said.