§ MR. DALZIEL (Kirkcaldy Burghs)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that, under the Teachers' Superannuation Act, present teachers are placed on an unfavourable footing with teachers appointed after the passing of the Act; whether he contemplates taking any steps to remedy this grievance; and whether there is any objection on the part of the Education Department to school boards supplementing the amount provided for teachers on retirement.
§ * THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. A. GRAHAM MURRAY,) ButeshireI have to point out that present teachers have the option of coming under the Superannuation Act or not. It is true that they will not share in the benefit of the Annuity Fund further than their own contributions to that fund extend, but the superannuation allowance paid to them by the Treasury is on a higher scale than that for teachers appointed after the passing of the Act. I cannot undertake, on the part of the Department, to introduce an amending Act. With regard to the last part of the question, I can only refer the hon. Member to Section 12, Subsection 6 of the Act. The Department has no power to waive the provisions of the Act.