78 
MAJORITY REPORT. 
Central Fund is entitled to receive an annual Exchequer grant of 
£142,000 concurrently with the credit of the full sums authorised 
out of contributions. But under Section 68 of the Act this 
annual payment is reducible proportionately to any reduction 
which may be made in the contributions ad a consequence of the 
financial position of the fund, and if the contributions are wholly 
suspended the payment from the Exchequer is suspended also. 
The Fund stood at £3,336,000 at 31st December, 1924, but 
against this balance there was a substantial liability in respect of 
part of the additional cost of medical benefit for the years 1925 
and 1926 under the National Health Insurance (Cost of Medical 
Benefit) Act, 1924 (see paragraph 182 below), the effective balance 
of the Fund being about £1,500,000. On the first valuation there 
were only four calls upon the Central Fund, to a total of £8,750. 
The draft on the Fund having been so comparatively insignificant, 
the payment of contributions has been suspended since 1st 
January, 1921, and the Exchequer grant is, accordingly, in 
aoeyance also. 
167. The amounts credited to Approved Societies, Deposit 
Contributors, &c., or applied to the redemption of reserve values 
in respect of contributions paid up to 81st December, 1923, have 
been about £4,750,000 less than the receipts from the sales of 
stamps. The surplus is attributable to (1) stamps bought by 
employers but not yet affixed to cards, (2) cards stamped but still 
held by employers or Approved Societies, (3) lost stamps and 
unutilised stamped cards. The balance due to the first two causes 
is, we understand, estimated at about £1,500,000. This is con- 
sidered to be a fairly constant amount from period to period, but 
it represents at all times an outstanding liability which will 
mature as soon as credit is claimed for the stamps of which it 
is made up, and it must be kept in hand accordingly. The 
balance attributable to stamps on cards which have not been 
and are not likely to be surrendered, or to loss of stamps by the 
public may have amounted up to 31st December, 1923, to more 
than £3,000,000. The bulk of this balance is required by the 
principal Act to be transferred to the Central Fund but, to meet 
a temporary difficulty, part of it was diverted to recoup Societies 
the arrears excused to members under the Prolongation of 
Insurance Act. In consequence of the question which had 
arisen in regard to the cost of medical benefit, the balance 
existing at 31st December, 1923, so far as not otherwise appro- 
priated, was, in effect, applied by statute towards meeting that 
cost up to 3lst December, 1926. 
THE FIRST VALUATION. 
168. The first valuation of the assets and liabilities of the 
Approved Societies was made as at 31st December, 1918. Full 
details of this valuation will be found in the Report of the 
Government Actuary (Cmd. 1662). The total number of