§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that it is the custom for employés of the Ordnance Survey Department, whose pay amounts to £2 per week, to be stopped 1d. per week for a stamp when signing the weekly pay sheet, and a further 1d. per week when signing the monthly pay sheets; and whether this system is in force in other Government Departments; and, if not, why it is enforced in the Ordnance Survey Department?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. H. GARDNER, Essex, Saffron Walden)Receipts given by the employés of the Ordnance Survey Department for pay amounting to £2 or upwards are, of course, chargeable with the usual Stamp Duty of 1d., and I have no power to exempt such receipts from the charge. I understand, however, that for purposes of accounts, the men are sometimes required not only to give a stamped receipt for each week's pay, but also for the aggregate amount paid to them during the mouth, the duty payable in the latter case being a single duty of 1d., and not a duty of 1d. per week as stated in the question. The double payment could, therefore, only be a matter of 1d. per annum, but I think that even this ought to be avoided if possible, and I will ascertain what is the course adopted in other Departments, where weekly payments are made and monthly accounts sent in, so as to avoid the requirement of a second receipt for the same payment.