ECONOMIC PENSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 9

ECONOMIC PENSIONS.

AID TO DISABLED SOLDIERS. APPEAL BOARD CONSTITUTED. £SO,OOO IN CONCESSIONS. • fi (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) 1 WELLINGTON. Wednesday. c According to the Minister of Defence ° the amendment of the War Pensions Act, introduced in the House last night, C carries out the recommendations of the c pensions Inquiry Committee which re- J cently investigated the whole system of • ycsT pension? and their administration. The principal innovations are the creation of a special form of pension known ' as «n economic pension, and the setting < up of a pensions appeal board, i The economic pension is defined ac a I supplementary pension, granted on eco- c BOttiic grounds, and being in addition to t w y pension payable as of right in ] jeepect of the death or disablement of i »ny member of the forces. ~ The bill provides that the pensions j board, in considering any application for , gii economic pension, may take into con- ; ,ideration the ability of the applicant • to obtain and retain euitable employment, the personal earnings and other- ! income of the applicant, the property of the applicant, the cost of living, and mch other factors of economic eignifi- ' cance as the board considers relevant. c An economic pension may be granted up ' to 30/ weekly, subject to a provision ' thaf'the total amount of the peneion, together with personal earnings, shall ' not exceed £3 10/ weekly. i The Minister of Defence explained ' that this clause would involve ah ex- 1 pebditure of £60,000 annually. The t economic pension may be granted to the 1 rife and children of a disabled member 1 qualified to receive a pension under the 1 principal Act, and subject to the maxi- j jilim already indicated. t PENSIONS TO DEPENDENTS. 3 The widow of a member who was in ' receipt of a peneion may be granted an tconomic pension on the following scale: Widow and one child, not exceeding 10/ weekly; widow and two or more children, 10/ weekly, increased by 2/d weekly for every child in excess of one The pensions board may make a further grant Up to 15/ weekly to a widow to secure toe education ot her children so long as ' tie total pension dope not exceed £4 1 weekly. This, it was explained by Sir i H. 11. Rhodes, is enacting what has been i tie actual practice of the pensions '. board; An economic pension may be i gfanted to the widowed mother of a de- i ceased pensioner up to £1 weekly where « the applicant was totally dependent on ] the soldier and her income does not as , a result exceed £2 10/ weekly. A eimi- j lar pension may be granted to a widowed \ ißotaer who was partially dependent on the soldier, subject to an income limit i of 36/ weekly. Peneioha to children ire generally to cease at the age of Iβ, J tot m cases of female children the pen- ' cioos board will have discretion to eon- ! tinue grants for another year, or, in the case of a child suffering from mental > or bodily infirmity, it may continue the pension for such time as it thinks fit. ' The latter discretion is also to apply ' where consideration, of a child's educa- ' tron is involved. A new scale of amputation pensions Is provided. The pension for applicants who have suffered amputation of one leg above the knee is £8 per annum, while the pension in cases of amputation below tte knee is £0 per annum. Power ie given to increase the allowance for an attendant from £1 to £3 weekly. .PENSIONS APi-EAL BOARD. The War Pensions Appeal Board is to lie constituted ot three members, two of whom (nominated by the Minister of Defence) shall be registered medical practitioners, and the third shall be appointed to represent the Returned Soldiers* Association, which will be asked to nominate six qualified persons from ■whom the Minister of Defence shall (elect one as a member of the board. The grounds of appeal from decisions of the War Pensions Board shall be (a) the rejection of a claim for pension on the ground that the death or disablement. of the member of the force in respect of whose death or disablement the claim Was made was not due directly or in- ' directly to his employment as a member of the forces, or, in case of disablement tot aggravated by such employment; (b) the assessment of a pension granted to any member of the forces in so far ac the assessment is 'based oil medical grounds. The Board of Appeal may consider evidence, whether Of strictly legal feature or not. The Appeal Board has power to confirm or vary the award of the War Pensions Board, and to make its decisions retrospective if necessary. Ihe limited grounds of appeal to a stipendiary magistrate which were inelhded in the amending Act of 1916 have been extended to enable this right to be etercised by any person whose pension has been withdrawn, reduced, or suspended by the board. The right of a ■widow and children to receive a pension in respect of the death of a member of the forces was formerly limited to cases ■where death occurred within seven years of injury, but this time limitation is to be removed. The partial disability pension which may be payable in respect of amputation of the left arm at or above the elbow has been increased from 75 to 80 per cent of the total disability pension, and a similar increase has been made in respect of amputation of the right arm below the elbow. MINISTER AX'D APPEAL BOARD. Commenting on what he termed the difficult question of the Appeal Board, the Minister stated that returned soldiers lad always maintained that such a board fa* absolutely necessary. At present Uie Pensions Board consisted of a magistrate and a medical officer appointed by the Government, and a representative of the Returned Soldiers' Association. The latter was satisfied with the Pensions Board, but w»hed provision to be made for appeals •gainst its decisions. The Appeal Board W be set up under the bill would be fppointed by the Minister of Defence, out they had" not been able to give effect to the wishes of the Returned Soldiers' Association as to its constitution. The •ewciation asked for the appointment °f a judge of the Supreme Court, but, failifig that, they asked that a K.C. be appointed. Well, a judge of the Supreme Court was practically out of the quest'un. He did not think that a judge *ould care to act, and, in any case, our judges were overworked at the present time. There were few K.C.'e, and fewer •till available. It was thought better, "•erefore, to leave it open to the Government to appoint a Certain person who jould be acceptable to the Returned Soldiers' Association. He did not know who ' *"■ person would be, but he would endeavour to get someone who would be ?w*jJtable to the association. Sir Heaton ««odes added that the total estimated •*>« of the concessions in the bill was **0,000. >