§ 80. Sir CLEMENT KINLOCH-COOKEasked whether the increased rates of pay apply to lieutenants on the supplementary list, that is to say, lieutenants brought in from the merchant navy; and, if not, whether there is any prospect of these officers being included?
§ The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. Churchill)Lieutenants on the supplementary list of twelve years' seniority receive 14s. a day full pay plus 2s. a day messing allowance, this allowance being part of their substantive pay. The sum received is therefore 16s. a day, which is 771 the maximum rate of pay laid down for lieutenants by the new scale. As all supplementary lieutenants on the list are of twelve years' seniority, there is no reason for revising their pay.
§ 81. Mr. CHARLES DUNCANasked what is the new rate of pay, after nine years' service, for a chief stoker, chief petty officer, chief armourer, master at arms, chief writer, chief shipwright, and chief electrician; and if any of the above ratings receive allowances for anything other than badges?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAWith regard to the first part of the question, I will refer my hon. Friend to the statement presented to Parliament last week. As to the second part of the question, seamen chief petty officers are eligible to qualify for non-substantive pay varying from 2d. to 1s. 4d. a day; chief stokers, for a few allowances as diver, yeoman of stores, or engineer's writer, varying from 1d. to 6d.; and chief shipwrights and chief armourers, for an allowance of 6d. a day as artificer diver.
§ 82. Mr. BARNESasked the percentage of the former rate which the increase of pay bears in the case of seamen, painters, plumbers, and shipwrights, respectively?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThe percentages asked for vary within each class and with each period of service, and it is not considered that any useful comparison could be made between them. As indicated by my right hon. Friend the First Lord on the 4th instant, the increase given is adapted to the requirements of each class.
83. Mr. FENWICKasked what allowances, over the amount of full pay, are made to chief and warrant officers, namely, gunners, boatswains, and carpenters; and how many of each rank receive them?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAAllowances varying in amount from 3d. to 2s. 6d. a day are payable to the officers in question. They are set out in detail on pages 780 and 781 of the last Quarterly Navy List. As regards the second part of the question, the great majority of warrant officers receive some form of allowance, but to give my hon. Friend a detailed answer would involve an amount of labour which I do not think I should be justified in imposing npon the Department.
§ 84. Mr. FALLEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that chief and 772 signal boatswains in Portsmouth signal schools receive 1s. 6d. and 1s. less than they receive when at sea; that these boatswains have served at sea and have returned to depot, where they are employed, pending appointment to flagship or cruiser, giving instruction to Royal Navy officers qualifying for signal lieutenant and officers of the Royal Naval Reserve; that this 1s. 6d. is paid to the three staff signallers at the school, but is withheld from these boatswains working in the same school, though they are doing the same work; and that although the money to pay them is granted by the Treasury it is handed back as unspent; and, in view of these facts, will he give instructions that these sums of 1s. 6d. and 1s. be paid to the chief and signal boatswains during the periods they are doing staff work ashore?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAChief signal boatswains and signal boatswains borne as supernumerary in their signal schools waiting appointment do not receive the allowance of 1s. 6d. or 1s. a day, according to the class of certificate held, this allowance, as is the case with commissioned warrant officers and warrant officers generally, being only payable to officers actually holding appointments. While supernumerary in the signal schools these officers are employed in the ordinary work of the schools as may be found necessary. Certificate allowance is paid to signal boatswains on the staffs of the schools who hold appointments on the staff. As regards the two last parts of the question, no provision is, or has ever been, made for paying supernumerary officers' certificate allowance, and it is not proposed to make any change in the Regulations governing such payments.