Britain: An official handbook > 1956

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION 5X
ex-member of the Bench or of the Bar adhering to the political party in
power.
In addition to his functions as Speaker of the House of Lords and Custodian
of the Great Seal, the Lord Chancellor is in charge of more than 20 different offices
and branches which are mainly concerned with legal practice and procedure.
He controls the machinery of the courts of law both through his patronage and
through administrative powers conferred by the Judicature Act, 1925, and other
Acts; he advises the Crown on many appointments to the judiciary in England and
Wales; and he is the Minister responsible for the Judge Advocate General’s Depart¬
ment. This Department advises the War Office and the Air Ministry on all legal
matters arising out of the administration of military law, and, where necessary,
reviews the proceedings of army and air force courts martial.1 The Lord Chancellor
is also a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, exercises eccle¬
siastical patronage and is connected with a number of administrative tribunals,
including the Pensions Appeal Tribunals and also the Lands Tribunal which deter¬
mines questions relating to compensation for the compulsory acquisition of land and
hears rating appeals from local valuation courts. The Land Registry, which is
responsible for maintaining a State register of title to land,2 and the Public Trustee
Office, which may act as the executor or administrator of the estate of a deceased
person or as a trustee under a will or settlement, are both administered under the
Lord Chancellor.
The National Assistance Board
The National Assistance Board, responsible to Parliament through the Minister
of Pensions and National Insurance, administers the State service of financial
assistance to persons in need and unable to maintain themselves, and the non¬
contributory pension scheme under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1936. It has also
responsibilities for assessing the needs of applicants for free legal aid.
The Paymaster-General’s Department
The Paymaster-General’s Department acts as chief paying agent for Government
Departments other than the Revenue Departments. The majority of payments are
made through banks (to whose accounts the necessary transfers are made at the
Bank of England), but cash payments can be made and the payment of pensions,
mainly comprising those to retired teachers, officers of the Civil Service and the
National Health Service and members of the Armed Forces, and in certain cases
to their widows, is an important feature of the work of the Department.
The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance
In 1953 the Ministry of Pensions (established in 1917) and the Ministry of
National Insurance (established in 1944) were amalgamated.
The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance is responsible (a) for the social
security services established by the Family Allowances Acts, 1945 and 1952, the
National Insurance Acts, 1946 to 1955, and the National Insurance (Industrial
Injuries) Acts, 1946 to 1954, and for reciprocal national insurance arrangements
with other countries, (b) for the award and payment of war pensions and
allowances for disablement and death due to service in the armed forces of the
Crown, or due to war injuries sustained by merchant seamen, civil defence per¬
sonnel and civilians in the second world war, and for the welfare of pensioners and
1 The Judge Advocate of the Fleet is responsible for these matters in the Royal Navy.
2 Title must be so registered and guaranteed by the State in certain compulsory areas,
but elsewhere registration is voluntary.