§ 66. Mr. PETOasked the President of the Board of Trade when the present scale of Board of Trade nautical shipping and engineer surveyors was settled; whether the rule of the Civil Service applies to the occupants of these posts that forty years' service is necessary to qualify for a pension; what is the average age at which the surveyors are appointed and the average age of their retirement; whether he is aware that the salaries paid by the Board of Trade are much lower than those paid to Lloyd's surveyors; and whether it is intended to make any increase in the salaries attached to these posts in view of the increase in the cost of living?
Sir A. STANLEYThe latest modification of the scale of pay for Board of Trade surveyors took place in 1912. The ordinary pension rules of the Civil Service apply to these officers and pensions can be given after ten years' service. The average age on entry varies in the different classes, but all surveyors enter the service between twenty-five and forty-five and are entitled to retire on a pension on obtaining sixty years of age. The scale of salaries paid to Lloyd's surveyors is a higher one than that paid to Board of Trade surveyors. The present position as regards the remuneration of Board of Trade surveyors is not regarded by the Board of Trade as satisfactory, and the matter is at present under consideration.
§ Mr. PETOIs it not a fact that there has not been any increase or any substantial increase in the salaries of these surveyors since 1876?