§ MR. HOPWOOD (Lancashire, S.E., Middleton)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will secure to the Customs boatmen the further consideration and improvement of their pay, &c., in proportion to the risk and hardship of their service; whether he is aware that the stations of these men are in a filthy and insanitary condition, and require investigation and improvement by the authorities; and whether complaints have reached him that, by the removal of officers from Gravesend, vessels from tobacco ports were allowed to proceed from Gravesend to London, entailing greater hardships upon the diminished staff?
§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)Before the right hon. Gentleman answers that, may I inquire how many of these boatmen there are; if, as a matter of fact, the nomination of them is not in the hands of Members of Parliament, and that those appointed are generally not able to row at all?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Sir J. T. HIBBERT,) OldhamI am afraid that I cannot hold out hopes of a fresh revision of the salaries of the Customs boatmen. These have only very recently been improved, and some unforeseen consequences of the abolition of classification by the Treasury Minute of March, 1891, have been removed to the advantage of the men. The Board of Customs are alive to the unsatisfactory condition of some stations. Four stations have been complained of—namely, those at Shadwell Basin, Loudon Docks, at Millwall Docks, at Brunswick Pier, East India Dock, and at A Jetty, Victoria Dock. These stations are all the property of the Dock Companies, and it is always a matter of difficulty to get the necessary repairs executed, but no effort will be spared by the Board of Customs 1341 to that end. Replying to the question of the hon. Member for Preston, the right hon. Gentleman was understood to say he could not give the figures, neither could he assent to the suggestion that the men were unable to row at all.
§ MR. KEARLEY (Devonport)also put a question which, together with the answer, was totally inaudible in the Press Gallery.
§ MR. HOPWOODI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether pensioners from the Royal Navy were taken some years ago into the service of Her Majesty's Customs, passing through all formalities, including the customary six months' probation; and will he explain why it is that they have never received their commissions, or been allowed sick leave, nor the extra 1s., the allowance for Sunday labour paid to commissioned boatmen, whose duties are identical?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTPensioners from the Royal Navy were appointed, in pursuance of a Treasury Minute of 1882, as "pensioner boatmen" in the Customs Department subject to an examination by the Civil Service Commissioners and a probation of six mouths. The Treasury directed that their status should be that of hired men. Revenue commissions were, therefore, not issued to them nor were other regulations—namely, those with respect to sick leave and Sunday pay—affecting established boatmen held to be applicable to such pensioner boatmen. Men of this grade are, however, now supplied with uniform clothing, similar to that issued to established boatmen, and are allowed leave of absence for 12 days in each year without loss of pay. A pensioner boatman when incapacitated from performing work through an injury received in the execution of his duty, or by sickness clearly attributable to the nature of his work, is allowed to receive full pay for three months continuously if necessary, but, like other hired men at the out ports, he is not entitled to leave during sickness under any other circumstances.