§ 68. Brigadier-General SURTEESasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has confirmed the view of Sir Alfred Lascelles, the Special Commissioner appointed to inquire into the conditions of service of officials in the East African Protectorates, that officers serving under the same conditions must receive the same pay for the same work, irrespective of the financial position of the Protectorate to which they are allocated; whether he has sanctioned substantially increased rates of pay for the West African services; and whether he has sanctioned similar increases for the East African services?
§ Lieut.-Colonel AMERYSir Alfred Lascelles' view was generally as stated, but he recognised that the introduction of any scheme of improved salaries must depend on the financial resources of the Protectorates. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative. The increases given in East Africa are not so large as in West Africa, but in some respects, such as the minimum initial salary of a European official, it has been possible to go further than Sir A. Lascelles considered possible.
§ 69 and 70. Brigadier-General SURTEESasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether the maximum amount of war bonus which has been granted to officials in the Civil Services of the East African Protectorates is £120 a year, in the majority of cases the amount being considerably less; and whether, in the general revision of salaries which has now taken place, the new scales of pay provide for an immediate increase over this very inadequate allowance towards the increased cost of living;
(2) whether senior officers in the service of the East African Protectorates have received until now war bonus at a lower rate than their juniors; whether the new rates of pay for these officers, other than heads and deputy heads of department, in some cases constitute a reduction on their existing scale of emoluments with this war bonus; and whether in such cases his public assurance that he was fully alive to the necessity for substantial improvement in the service has been confirmed?
§ Lieut.-Colonel AMERYThe maximum amount of war bonus for East African officials was fixed at £120 per annum, the amounts diminishing for higher salaries because it was considered that the need for additional bonus was greatest in the case of the smaller salaries. I have no reason to believe that exception was taken at the time to the scales of war bonus as being inadequate. Under the new rates of pay no official will receive less than his total emoluments (including war bonus and duty allowance, which was not drawn during leave of absence) at the 31st of March last. In most cases an immediate increase over those emoluments is realised, and the future prospects are materially improved. I see no reason to suppose that a general substantial improvement has not been secured, but the application of the new rates is still the subject of correspondence with the Governors.