HOUSEHOLD MEANS TEST. COMPLAINTS AGAINST: Note by Minister of Labour and National Service.

about decisions as to what constitutes a household. It is of course necessary to decide whether an applicant is living alone or as a member of a household because in the latter case the household must be considered as a whole. The Board's officer has to decide this question on the facts of the case and the decision is sometimes a matter of difficulty, particularly where the applicant though closely related to the other members of the household is claimed to be a "lodger". There is, however, no doubt that in many cases where, for example, a son is living with his father, or a father with his son, a claim that although they are living in the same house they are living in two separate "households" is only made for the purpose of avoiding the household means test and has little reality in fact.