§ 57. Mr. GEORGE ROBERTSasked if clerks in the Army Pay Corps have to complete 30 years' service before becoming eligible for a pension, whereas clerks in all other corps are required to complete 21 years' service only for this eligibility; whether a clerk in any of the other corps voluntarily remaining on till 30 years' service is completed is entitled to 6d. per day more pension than the soldier of the Army Pay Corps of similar rank; whether he can state the reasons for this differential treatment; and whether the point will be considered with a view to bringing the Army Pay Corps pension rights into harmony with those of other corps?
Mr. BAKERThe conditions which the hon. Member quotes apply to members of the Army Pay Corps who joined after March, 1910. The purely clerical duties of this corps can be efficiently performed to a more advanced age than those of ordinary soldiers, and it is not proper that the public should be charged with pensions for premature retirement. On the other 1305 hand, the men referred to have the advantage of longer employment on full pay, and can ultimately earn higher pensions than those of other corps.
§ Mr. CROOKSIs it not a fact that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 of these young men employed in the Army Pay Corps, and that their places could be better filled by wounded soldiers and older men?