MR. BOSCAWEN (Kent, Tunbridge)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the scale of pensions given to members of the Army Nursing Service, under which the highest pension that an army nursing sister can receive is £37 a year after twenty-one years service, and that she cannot receive more even if she continues to work till she is sixty years of age, and that the average pension is less than this; and whether, in view of the work done by the members of the service, especially during the war in South Africa, pensions on a more liberal scale could be provided.
§ *MR. WYNDHAMAn army nursing sister receives a pension of £26 year after twenty-one years service and £35 after 30 years service; but in any case of "special devotion to her duties" or on being appointed superintendent a higher rate, up to a maximum of £50. may be granted. It is not thought necessary to increase these rates.