§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether there is any, and, if so, what, regulation in regard to pensions held by officials of the Post Office; and, seeing that the postmaster of Bristol has a pension of £460, the postmaster of Hastings a pension of £460, the postmaster of Manchester a pension, the nautical assistant in the office of the Secretary of the Post Office a pension of £185 10s., and the officer in charge of eastern mails of India and Australia a pension of £69, whether any deduction is made in consequence in their salaries; if so, will he state the amount.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN,) Worcestershire, E.There are two regulations bearing on the point raised:—(1) Act 4 and 5 William IV., Cap. 24, Section 20, under which the salary and pension of a civil servant when re-employed must not exceed the amount of his former pay. The deductions under this Act are made from the pensions, not from the salaries of the officers affected. Thus, the postmaster of Bristol suffers a deduction of £200 from his full pension of £600, and the postmaster of Hastings a deduction of £40 from his full pension of £500. No deduction is at present necessary in the case of the assistant surveyor whose emoluments do not as yet exceed his former pay. (2) The second authority is found in the rules applicable to naval or military pensioners holding a civil employment of profit, drawn up by the Treasury under Section 6 of the Superannuation Act of 1887. Under these rules, the nautical assistant in the Secretary's office, and the officer in charge 597 of eastern mails suffer, an abatement of 10 per cent. from their civil emoluments.