§ MR. CONYBEARE (Cornwall, Camborne)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether Her Majesty's Birthday and Her Majesty's Coronation Day are kept as public holidays in the Dockyards as well as in other Government Offices; whether, on the occasion of the celebration of Her Majesty's Birthday on the 2nd instant, the 10 men employed on fire duty in the Devonport and Keyham Dockyards were on duty the whole day, and have received no extra pay or gratuity in consideration of the loss of their holiday, being told, on application, that they would receive nothing beyond their ordinary pay; whether these men are to remain on duty during the whole of the holiday to be observed on the 28th instant in connection with Her 1139 Majesty's Coronation; and, if so, whether he will consider their claim to some extra gratuity; and, whether, at the other Government Dockyards, men have to remain on such extra duty during Sundays and holidays; and, if not, why this stringent regulation is enforced at Devonport alone?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)Her Majesty's Birthday and Coronation Day are both kept as public holidays in the Dockyards; but only the former is so observed in the Government Offices. In accordance with the Regulations which govern all the Dockyards, men who are retained beyond the ordinary working hours receive the extra pay laid down by scale for the performance of such extra duty, and there is no intention to depart from the instructions. I understand that the Regulations are uniform in this respect in all the Dockyards.