§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, if he is aware that certain employers in the Metropolis have undertaken not only to keep open the situations but also to pay the salaries of Volunteers in their employ during absence on active 416 service; and whether similar treatment has been extended in all the Departments of the State to civil servants and writers employed therein, now serving in South Africa.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HANBURY, Preston)I understand that the practice of private employers has varied considerably. The rule which Her Majesty's Government have adopted is that, where Civil servants now on service in South Africa are married, half of their civil pay is paid to their wives and families, and that, where they are unmarried, the difference between their civil pay and the cost of providing substitutes for them is reserved for them until their return.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTAnd their situations are kept open?
§ MR. HANBURYOh, certainly.