§ MR. CROOKS (Woolwich)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether, having regard to the fact that the position of writers in the several departments of the War Office was analogous to that of assistant clerks in the Civil Service, he will consider the desirability of abolishing the gratuity system, and treat them in the same way as assistant clerks, viz., place them under a pension scheme.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) It is considered that the position of these writers is not really analogous to that of assistant clerks in the War Office, the conditions of entry and of service being dissimilar. The question of a pension scheme for the writers has been fully considered, and it was decided that the proposal could not be entertained as the proposal put forward was found to be actuarially unsound.