§ MR. REGINALD LUCAS (Portsmouth)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he can announce the date upon which the increased pension to chief petty officers becomes operative; and how it affects men whose period of service will have ceased before the forthcoming Estimates are presented.
(Answered by Mr. Amold-Forder.) The new scale of pension for chief petty officers, sanctioned by Order in Council of the 16th February last, applies to ail chief petty officers who may be pensioned on or after the 1st April, 1903. Chief petty officers discharged to pension before that date are not affected by the change.