§ MR. LAWSON (St. Pancras, W.)asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, Whether it is the case that witnesses attending Parliamentary Committees from the country are allowed reasonable sums of money on account of absence from home in addition to expenses of their journey to London and back; and, if so, why witnesses from the Metropolis are not allowed a like compensation for enforced absence from their homes and occupations?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY (Mr. AKERS-DOUGLAS) (Kent, St. Augustine's)Witnesses attending before Select Committees of the House of Commons are paid in accordance with a scale which was approved by the Speaker in 1882. Under this scale witnesses residing in or near the Metropolis are not entitled to remuneration; but there is nothing to prevent the Treasury from making a payment in any ease which may be recommended by the Select Committee as one of hardship or for other special reason.