.svg) | |
| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1916 |
| Dissolved | 1953 |
| Superseding Department | |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
TheMinistry of Pensions was a British government ministry responsible for the administration and delivery ofpensions. It was headed by theMinister of Pensions.
In September 1916, aCabinet Committee on Pensions recommended that the work of theWar Office,Chelsea Hospital commissioners and Central Army Pensions Issue Office should be taken over by a Pensions Board. TheMinistry of Pensions Act 1916 created a single Ministry of Pensions to administer naval and military war pensions to former members of the Armed Forces and their dependants, and to provide medical care for the disabled.[1]
It was expanded rapidly during the opening months of the Second World War by secondment of civil servants from theInland Revenue and other government departments. In 1940, most of the Ministry was moved toCleveleys, north ofBlackpool,Lancashire. This central office kept records of pensions granted, issued pension books and prepared cases for appeal tribunals.[1] TheRossall School was taken over initially, but later several hundred employees worked in prefabricated one-storey office buildings assembled on a site that had been part of the Holt's farm in the Norcross section ofCarleton. The Ministry moved to buildings onMillbank in London in 1949.
In 1953, the functions of the Ministry of Pensions were merged with those of theMinistry of National Insurance into a newMinistry of Pensions and National Insurance.[1]
