PENSIONS OF MINISTERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22470, 14 July 1936, Page 6

PENSIONS OF MINISTERS

BRITISH CABINET SERVICE PROOF OF NEED REQUIRED [from a special correspondent] LONDON. June 24 .The resignation of Mr. J. H. Thomas has raised the question whether Cabinet Ministers retire on pension. _ The fact is they do not. But there is an Act of Parliament which permits tho Government to grant a pension to a Minister of long service if it wishes to do so. A "means test" is applied to discover if a pension is required and for this reason applications for pensions are rare. The only Minister who retires on pension by right is the Lord Chancellor. His pension is £SOOO a year. This is drawn at present by Lord Sankey, but he still acts as a Law Lord. Thft Pensions Act provides that Ministers who have had £'sooo a year and held office for four years—not necessarily continuously—may apply for a pension of £2OOO. Ministers with £2OOO to £SOOO a year and six years' service may apply, on retirement, for a £I2OO pension, and £IOOO to £2OOO a vear Ministers may apply for a pension of £BOO if they have 14 years' service. Proof ot need must be given from time to time and the pension may be stopped. This has been rigidly applied since the death in 1898 of Mr. C. P. Villiers, who drew a £2OOO a year pension for 20 years and died worth £354,000. No claim for a pension has been made since 1924. The present Lord Balfour, formerly Mr. Gerald Balfour, voluntarily relinquished a pension when he found ho no longer needed it. Only one pension may be granted in a year, and not more than four may be in force simultaneously