§ MR. NIELD (Middlesex, Ealing)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether, while the substitution of proficiency pay for service pay may not cause hardship or monetary loss to service men serving in any corps (whether departmental or otherwise), the change will seriously affect non-combatants, e.g., Army schoolmasters, and to the extent of nearly £11 per annum; and, if so, whether he will consider the advisability of so amending his proposals as to obviate this loss.
(Answered by MR. Secretary Haldane.) The Army schoolmasters are in the same position as other corps ineligible for proficiency pay. Their ordinary rates of pay include remuneration for technical qualifications, and men appointed to the corps or contracting for a new term of service after 1st October, 1906, will not draw either service or proficiency pay. All vested rights have, however, been scrupulously respected.