HC Deb 20 July 1915 vol 73 cc1447-8

Considered in Committee.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That it is expedient to authorise the payment out of the Consolidated Fund and of moneys provided by Parliament of Superannuation Allowances to Metropolitan Police Magistrates, the Dublin Divisional Justices, and the Stipendiary Magistrate for Chatham and Sheerness."

Sir F. BANBURY

I have the pleasure of seeing the Front Bench full for the first time for some weeks, and I think we might have some explanation of this Resolution.

The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir John Simon)

The Bill which we propose to found on this Resolution is necessitated because of an Act which was passed last September, since the War broke out, called the Superannuation Act, 1914. That Act was passed on the recommendation of a Royal Commission which sat on the Civil Service, and was designed to regulate and define the pensions which are granted to Civil servants. It was passed by general consent and was thought to be in proper form. It had one unexpected result, that it was considered that the provisions of the Bill apply to Metropolitan police magistrates. That was not the intention of the House and was no part of the recommendation of the Royal Commission upon whose Report the Bill was founded. It works injustice in those cases, because the magistrates, who were appointed in the belief that they were under the same conditions as all their predecessors, found that they unexpectedly came under the provisions of that Act. We think the right course is to define in this Bill what the scale of pensions to Metropolitan police magistrates is. They are persons who can only be appointed after very long experience in their profession, and I do not think it will be disputed that the general measure on which their pension has hitherto been calculated is right. We propose to take the opportunity of saying that no Metropolitan magistrate shall be pensionable unless he has served five years and he would only then, of course, be entitled to so many sixtieths. We further propose to put the pensions of police magistrates, as in the case of pensions of other judicial officers, upon the Consolidated Fund.

Sir F. BANBURY

I am much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman.

Mr. KING

This is not emergency legislation at all, and has nothing to do with the War; and, secondly, although a new charge is being put upon the public funds, although hon. Members are crying out for economy, when it comes to a lawyer getting a pension there is no cry for economy at all.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolution to be reported To-morrow.