H—lB

60. Up until July, 1948, children who were living away from home while apprenticed to a trade or in some other form of employment training for a suitable career were allowed a grant towards their living-expenses limited to £52 per annum, or £1 per week provided the gross wage plus the Rehabilitation Board's grant did not exceed £3 Bs. weekly. 61. After taking all present-day factors into account the Board decided to remove the limitation of a maximum of £52 per annum and to grant an amount which, after including wages plus any assistance from other Government sources, will ensure that these children will receive a net weekly return of £3 Bs. 62. At the same time the Board considered the position of children living at home while apprenticed or training for a suitable career, and it was decided to assure them of a grant which would guarantee a net return of £2 15s. per week. For those children who were living at home no rehabilitation grant was payable previously, but this new range of assistance should be helpful towards easing any difficulties through low wages during the commencing stages of training. 63. Where full-time educational assistance for post-secondary school studies has been granted by the Board the rates of subsistence allowances for the full academic year are as follows : (a) Child over twenty-one years of age receives the normal subsistence allowance as for single bursars —viz., £3 Bs. net per week. (b) Under twenty-one years of age and living at home, £2 10s. net per week. (c) Under twenty-one years of age and living away from home £3 net per week. * (v) Overseas Bursaries 64. At this stage of rehabilitation activity it is not anticipated that many more new applications for overseas educational assistance will be received and future work will be mainly concerned with matters arising out of overseas bursaries already approved. 65. Over the past year an increasing number of bursars have returned to New Zealand after completing their studies, and the added knowledge and qualifications gained through rehabilitation assistance will be of ultimate benefit not only to those ex-servicemen, but also to all branches of the community. SECTION VIII—DEPARTMENTAL AND LOAN EXPENDITURE 66. Departmental expenditure and loan authorization for rehabilitation purposes for the year efrded 31st March, 1949, totalled £19,326,674, representing an increase of £239,792, by comparison with a total of £19,086,882 for the previous year. 67. Details of departmental expenditure are summarized in Table VI of the Appendix, while details of loan authorizations appear in Table 111. SECTION IX—LOAN FACILITIES 68. Table 111 of the Appendix details the totals of loan authorizations under various headings from the commencement of operations to 31st March, 1949. 69. It will be noted that the year has been one of considerable activity. 70. The successful handling of such a large volume of business has been due in a large measure to the efficient functioning of the District Loan Committees which are operating at Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill under the general direction of the Rehabilitation Loans Committee. To this successful functioning a substantial contribution is also made by the officers of the State Advances Corporation, who are responsible to a large degree for executive and administrative action.

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