Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
It is not desirable that we should allow a claim to be made at an indefinite period after the widow becomes entitled to a pension. The longer the time that elapses since the death of her husband, the more difficult it is to investigate a claim and find out what is the real entitlement of the applicant. If you are to talk about people who have died in remote parts of the Empire, that case will be still more difficult to investigate than one which happens close at home. The only point at issue is as to whether the time that we have provided in the Clause is reasonable or not. Has the hon. Member looked up the precedent of the old age pensions scheme? In that case, the pension only becomes payable from the date when the claim is made, and in no case does it go back to the date on which the applicant was entitled, unless the applicant has made the claim on that date. Therefore, we have gone one better than the Old Age Pensions Act. I suggest that to put in one month is reasonable. From the date of the beginning of this Act, before its provisions are widely known and people understand that they have only to go to the Post Office to make their claim, we thought that a little longer time might be permitted, and we have put in a period of two months from the date of the beginning of the Act. After that date, everybody really has a chance of finding out what is their position.