§ 39. Mr. HAYDN JONESasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Merioneth County Council recently incurred an expenditure of £82 18s. in the burial of the bodies of merchant seamen washed ashore in Merioneth; that the refund of this expenditure has been declined by the Admiralty on the ground that the cost of funerals is only borne by naval funds when such funerals are conducted by the naval authorities; and whether, in view of the fact that the county council were not aware of this condition when the expenditure was incurred, steps will be taken to refund the money spent and notification given of the procedure to be followed in future cases?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the ADMIRALTY (Dr. Macnamara)The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the third, the decision that the Royal Navy should undertake the burial of the bodies of merchant seamen who have lost their lives as a result of the acts of the 814 enemy was arrived at in order to mark the close co-operation between the Royal Navy and the mercantile marine at this time. The naval authorities on the coast have already been instructed to arrange these funerals—namely, on the 17th January—and steps have been taken to inform all local authorities of this arrangement. I am afraid we have no authority to repay in this case.