§ SIR GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that the concession of an enhanced increment of 1s. 6d. per week, per annum, given to Customs preventive men, as from the 1st October, 1905, does not, according to the interpretation which the Board of Customs placed on that concession, take effect until the 1st October, 1906; that, as a result of the re-assessment of salaries last October, many of the officers referred to received less salary this year than they would have done had there been no concession; and if he will take such steps to give the full intended benefit of the concession.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY (Mr. MCKENNA,) Monmouthshire, N.In the Civil Service an annual increment accrues during the year in respect of which it is earned, but is not payable until that year has expired. The increments in question began to be earned as from the 1st October, 1905, but will not be payable until they are fully earned by a year of service, viz., on the 1st October, 1906. It is not the case that as a result of the re-assessment of salaries last October many of the officers referred to will receive less salary this year than they would have done had there been no concession.