I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £982,940 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1955, for Wound and Disability Pensions, Further Pensions and Married Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 26 of 1923, No. 12 of 1927, No. 24 of 1932, No. 15 of 1937, No. 2 of 1941, No. 14 of 1943, No. 3 of 1946, Nos. 19 and 28 of 1949 and No. 23 of 1953); Military Service Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 48 of 1924, No. 26 of 1932, No. 43 of 1934, No. 33 of 1938, No. 5 of 1944, Nos. 11 and 34 of 1945, Nos. 7 and 29 of 1949 and No. 5 of 1953); Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities (No. 37 of 1936, No. 9 of 1948, No. 30 of 1950, No. 27 of 1952 and No. 4 of 1953); Payments in respect of Compensation for Members of the Local Defence Force (No. 19 of 1946 and No. 15 of 1949); and for Sundry Contributions and Expenses in respect thereof, etc.
Deputies will, of course, be aware that the main provisions in this Estimate cover service pensions under the Military Service Pensions Acts; wound and disability pensions, special allowances and dependents' allowances and gratuities under the Army Pensions Acts and service pensions and gratuities under the Defence Forces (Pensions) Schemes in respect of service in the permanent force.
It will be seen that the amount being provided in the Estimate shows a small decrease of approximately £7,000 on the provision made for the previous financial year. This arises, not from any decrease in the amount of the annual commitment under the various statutory measures, which commitment continues to grow, but mainly from the fact that provision was made last year for arrears in respect of the increases granted under the Military Service Pensions (Amendment) Act, 1953, the Army Pensions Act, 1953, the Defence Forces (Pensions) (Amendment) Scheme, 1953, and the Connaught Rangers Pensions Act, 1953.
The decreases which I have explained occur in sub-heads E, I, J, and M. There are two sub-heads in which substantial increases are shown— namely, sub-head F, relating to dependents' allowances and gratuities, and sub-head O, relating to special allowances to persons who served in Easter Week, 1916, to persons awarded meedals and to persons granted pensions under the Connaught Rangers (Pensions) Acts.
The increase of £13,094 under sub-head F arises largely from the enhanced allowances payable under Part II of the Army Pensions Act, 1953. This Part provides allowances at the rate of £250 per annum for widows, £180 per annum for parents and, in certain circumstances, £125 per annum for brothers and sisters of certain deceased persons who had pre-truce service and who gave their lives in the struggle of the 1916 to 1923 period.
The increase under sub-head O, the sub-head which relates to the special allowances, is due to the necessity to provide for the new cases which it is thought will qualify for the payment of allowances during the present year. The commitment under this sub-head continues to increase regularly and it is not possible to foresee when, or at what figure, it will stabilise itself. The other increases are relatively small. Those under sub-heads A and C arise from salary increments and also from salary increases which last year were met from the Vote for Increases in Remuneration; those under sub-heads G and H arise from the fact that the cost of the provision and replacement of surgical and medical appliances to pensioners has increased, as has also the cost of hospital treatment while those under sub-heads K and L are caused by the increasing expense involved in the travelling of applicants and witnesses attending for examination under the various Acts and also in having applicants for benefits under the Army Pensions Acts medically examined by outside medical practitioners and specialists, etc.
The foregoing brief outline of the factors causing the increases and decreases in the different sub-heads will, I trust, be helpful to Deputies, and if any more detailed explanations should be required I shall endeavour to give them.
It may be no harm if I mention, in particular, the question of military service pensions. In round figures, about 20,500 fresh applications and petitions have been received since the enactment of the Military Pensions Act, 1949. As at the 31st May last, the Board of Assessors and the Referee had reported on 15,462 of these—1,359 being favourable reports and 14,103 unfavourable. That leaves approximately 5,000 cases to be reported upon, not counting any additional fresh applications which come in as a result of the recent time extension authorised by my predecessor. I propose to ask the Board of Assessors and the Referee to expedite the disposal of these cases as much as possible. I think it desirable that the cases still to be dealt with should have the same principles applied to them as those which have already been disposed of and I propose, therefore, to allow the present phase to be completed under the existing system. I will then have an overall picture of the situation which will be of assistance to me in considering if anything further needs to be done.
