asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether old age pensions are awarded only as from the date at which the applicant can furnish proof of age, or whether, when documentary proof is subsequently furnished, the pension is granted as from the date of application; and whether any special consideration can be allowed in cases where the delay in furnishing documentary evidence of age is caused not by the negligence of the applicant but by other causes?

A person who desires to obtain an old age pension is required to show that he has attained the statutory age of 70 and otherwise to establish his title to a pension. If he has no evidence of age, assistance is given to him by search of registers of birth, etc. Where a claim is allowed, the pension is payable under the law as from the date of receipt of the claim by the pension officer or the date on which the claimant first becomes entitled to the pension, whichever is the later. Where a claim is disallowed, the decision is under the law final and conclusive for purposes of that claim. In the event of a subsequent claim being allowed, there is no power to pay the pension for any period before the date of receipt of the fresh claim.

asked the Secretary of State for War the cost to the Crown in connection with the maintenance of matériel and the training of soldiers with a view to preparing them for civil employment on discharge; and has he had any communcation with trade union officials or bodies as to the recognition or acceptance of these Army-trained men of or by the various trades unions?

The cost of the two Vocational Training Centres at Catterick and Hounslow is estimated at £34,245, in the present year, and provision is also made in the Army Estimates for an expenditure of £6,040 on stores for use in unit or garrison classes for the vocational training of soldiers. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative.

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office how many discharges have taken place at Woolwich Arsenal since let February last?

The number of discharges from all grades at Woolwich Arsenal which have taken place during the period in question is 443.

asked the Minister of Health the amount of the outstanding debt, of the various local authorities in England and Wales, together with the annual charges for interest thereon, in the last year for which the figures are available, with the total amount received in local rates for the same period?

The outstanding loan debt of the local authorities in England and Wales at the end of the year 1921–22 was about £768,500,000, and the amount paid as interest on the debt during the year was £31,500,000. The receipts from local rates in the same year were approximately £171,000,000.

asked the Minister of Health how many working-class houses were completed by private enterprise during the six months ending 31st March last; and what proportion of them were subsidy houses?

According to returns obtained from local authorities in England and Wales as to building by private enterprise without assistance, from public funds, it is estimated that over 28,000 houses of not more than £26 rateable value in the provinces, and £35 in the Metropolitan police districts, were completed during the six months ending March last. During the same period, 4,158 houses were also completed by private enterprise with State assistance I under the Housing, Etc., Act, 1923. Some of the houses provided by private enterprise without assistance are no doubt larger than those built under the Act, and most of them were built for sale.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether motor-propelled chairs are supplied to men with both legs off, and upon what conditions?

The Ministry do not supply motor-propelled chairs. In suitable cases, the British Red Cross Society have provided motor attachments, on the recommendation of my medical advisers.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will investigate the circumstances attending Mr. D. Buss, of 1, Campbell Road, Stratford, who had received a pension for sciatica, but was notified in September, 1919, that such aggravation had passed away, and was given one year's grace to appeal; and, as the complaint has recently reappeared to such a degree that the man is prevented from following his occupation, will he arrange for a further medical examination?

I have not been able to identify this case from the information given, but if my hon. Friend will let me have further details, such as the man's regimental particulars, I shall be glad to have inquiries made.