§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)I beg to ask the hon. Member for the Knutsford Division of Cheshire, as the representative of the Metropolitan Board of Works, whether the engineer 1387 and the clerk of that Board have tendered their resignations; if so, upon what grounds; what were their salaries at the time of their resignations; whether their resignations have been accepted; whether pensions have been granted to them by the Board; if so, under what statutory authority; and what is the amount of the pensions? I likewise wish ask whether the Board have also accepted the resignation of Mr. Thomas Lovick, the assistant engineer, and granted him a pension of £666 per annum; and whether applications to resign upon pension have been received from six other officers of the Board, and what is the attitude of the Board towards these last applications?
§ MR. TATTON EGERTON (Cheshire, Knutsford)The engineer and clerk of the Metropolitan Board have tendered their resignations on the ground of old age, both being in their 70th year. The salary of the engineer at the time of his resignation was £2,000, and that of the clerk £1,000 per annum. The resignations have been accepted by the Board, and pensions have been granted to the officers of the Board in the engineer's case of £1,333 6s. 8d., and in the clerk's case of £666 13s. 4d. per annum, being two-thirds of their present salary. The powers under which the Board acted in these cases are those conferred by Section 213 of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1855, the officers in question having been in the service of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers before the constitution of the Board, but the Board also possesses powers to confer pensions under the Act passed in 1866 to provide for superannuation allowances to officers of the Vestries, and other Boards within the area of the Metropolis Local Management Act. A pension of £666 13s. 4d. has been granted to Mr. Lovick, the Assistant Engineer referred to by the hon. Member, and I shall be happy to hand him a copy of the formal resolution of the Board, which is too long for me to read to the House. I have only to add that the remaining officers mentioned by the hon. Member have requested permission to resign, and their cases are now before a Committee of the Board. The other officers who have resigned are—Mr. T. Lovick, assistant engineer, aged 65, whose length of service is upwards of 40 1388 years; Mr. H. E. Morley, engineer's-clerk, aged 60 years, length of service nearly 36 years; Mr. T. Gunyon, superintending draftsman, aged 62, upwards of 40 years' service; Mr. J. M'Dougall, aged 66, upwards of 40 years' service; Mr. James Bell, draftsman, aged 63, upwards of 40 years' service; Mr. A. Mott, assistant surveyor in the architects' department, aged 65, upwards of 33 years' service; Mr. C. Y. Norwood, first-class assistant, architects' department, aged 64, up-wards of 34 years' service. The attitude of the Board is that they will do their duty.