PENSIONS INCREASED

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 February 1940, Page 7

PENSIONS INCREASED

OLD AGE AND WIDOWS’

[BEITISH OFFICIAL WIBELESS.]

(Recd. February 21, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, February 20.

Moving the second reading of the Old Age and Widows’ Pensions Bill, the Minister of Health said that, in spite of much that divided the Government from the Opposition, and many hard words which would be said 1 , he felt that both shared a certain pride in being members of a Legislature which had not been wholly diverted from its own task by the necessities of the war. ~ t Continuing, Mr Elliot said that the number of persons benefiting had risen from 500,000 when the first Act was passed, to 3,000,000 tb-day. While the original cost of old-age pensions had been about £7,000,000, to-day it was roughly £100,000,000. Although the proposition was that this figure was covered by contributions, taxation provided’ £65,000,000. Recent events showed an almost universal desire to better the conditions of the older people, as was evidenced by the number of local authorities of all political parties which had begun to make grants out of the rates to old-age pensioners. The Bill, the Minister said, proceeded upon two principles: (1) That an improvement be made in the general pensions scheme, and (2) that the responsibility for the pensioners be assumed by the State, and no longer be shouldered by local authorities.

Dealing with the Bill in detail, Mr Elliot showed that the new proposals would cost an additional £80,000,000.