§ MR. SCOTT MONTAGU (Hampshire, New Forest)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state what are the salaries paid respectively to the Crown Agents, and what is done with any surplus out of the commission after paying salaries and office expenses; and what are the scales of commission charges for services in raising loans, and for services in connection with sending out material such as rails or railway materials.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) The salaries at present paid to the three Crown Agents are £2,300, £1,450, and £1,200 respectively; any surplus arising out of the receipts from commissions, etc., is carried to a reserve fund, the income of which is applicable to meeting 1299 the charges for the pensions of themselves and their staff and the deficits which in some years occur in their office fund accounts. The hon. Member will find full particulars as to the authorised scales of commission for different services in the enclosure to the circular despatch which I have recently addressed to the Colonial Governments who employ them, and which has been laid before Parliament in Cd. 1944.