FINANCIAL AID FOR SOLDIERS

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23088, 2 August 1940, Page 8

FINANCIAL AID FOR SOLDIERS

) POLICY OF BOARD EXPLAINED APPLICATIONS DECIDED ON MERITS [From Our .Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, August 1. Every application for assistance to the Soldiers’ Financial Assistance Board was considered on Its merits, after a full investigation of all the relevant circumstances, the Minister for Finance (the Hon. W, Nash) said in an interview. The Minister said he wished' to correct an impression which seemed to be held by certain persons that the board would make up any deficiency tn income resulting from the change from civil to military status, irrespective of income. That was not the case: but the board endeavoured to.meet the position by granting such assistance as was necessary -to enable soldiers’ dependants to maintain a reasonable standard of living after meeting all fixed essential commitments, and • after taking into account the fact that a soldier’s personal expenses were no longer a charge on the family budget. By the end of June the total number of applications received was 1228, and while an investigation of the circumstances and verification of commitments naturally took some time, the Minister said, the board was endeavouring to issue its decisions as rapidly aS possible. The latest figures available indicated that 810 applications had been finally decided, involving the authorisation on an annual basis of assistance to the extent of £7567 5s 3d. The remainder of the applications in hand were in process of investigation, and would be placed before the board for investigation as soon as the references were complete. “Everything possible is being done to speed up the preliminary investigation of applications, and to hasten the board's decision, so that applicahts would be subjected to a minimum of inconvenience,” said the Minister. Objects of Board Reviewing the activities of the board, the Minister said that the primary object for which the board was set up was to provide assistance to members of the New Zealand Forces who had enlisted for service overseas, and who, through undertaking such military service, were unable to meet from their military pay and other resources reasonable and normal requirements, The powers of the board, the Minister said, had recently been extended to provide assistance where necessary to territorials undergoing intensive training under the scheme put into operation. “The assistance which the board is empowered to grant covers a wide field, embracing such items as rent, interest in respect of loans on mortgage, or in respect of agreements for the purchase of homes, taxes, instalments on purchases or other chattels, insurance premiums, and other necessary expenses. The scope of the board’s •operations did not, however, include principal repayment on a mortgage. After .explaining that the State Advances Corporation provided all the facilities necessary for investigation* of a soldier’s circumstances and obligations. and that full use wag being made of the office for this purpose, Mr Nash said each application for assistance was • considered on its merits after full investigation of all the relevant circumstances. First of all, the board ascertained the soldier’s financial circumstances in civil life—his income from salary or wages, together with any amounts received from other sources, and also the extent of his financial obligations. With that information before it, the board .was able to review the applicant s position in relation to the income, available to the family from the military . allotment, the allowances payable in respect of children, the wife’s separation allowance, and any other income available from other sources. Payments to Creditors “The first charge on the income is an amount which the board considered would provide food and clothing on a reasonable standard for a. soldier’s dependants,” said the Minister. “Should it be found that the residue, of the income was insufficient to meet fixed essential , commitments Of the nature mentioned, a grant will be made to cover the deficiency.” The practice of the board was to make its payments direct to the creditor concerned, and a grant made In the direction of meeting, either wholly or in part, one particular commitment did not mean that other commitments had been overlooked: such a grant had the effect Of releasing other moneys from the income of dependants for the purpose of meeting the remaining commitments. For instance, a grant in respect of a commitment such as interest Or rent would have the effect of enabling a soldier’s dependants to meet from their own income other liabilities, such as hire purchase, payments, or insurance premiums, in respect of which no direct payment had been made. Mr Nash said that another point was that the board held the view that if a soldier’s circumstances were- such that he was in need of financial assistance it was reasonable to expect that the soldier himself should make as much provision for his family as he was able from his own resources, such as military pay and any other income. In a certain number Of instances the board had been unable to consider applications favourably because it had been apparent from the information obtained that the applicants were in a position to meet reasonable requirements from their own resources. "An assurance is given,” concluded the Minister; “that each application will receive careful and sympathetic consideration by the board which, by assistance already granted, has been able to relieve to a substantial extent financial embarrassment which would otherwise have been experienced. by soldiers and their dependants as a "result of the men offering their services to their country.”