53. Mr. L. MALONEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the size of the British Delegation to the Reparation Commission; what are the terms of appointment; what are the salaries paid in the aggregate and to each individual; are these sums charged to the accruing sums paid or to be paid by Germany; have any of these expenses on salary account been advanced by the Treasury; does any portion of the salary of Sir John Bradbury or of Mr. Salter continue to be borne by the Treasury as a recurrent annual arrangement; what proportion of the total sum collected on reparation account has gone in expenses of the Reparation Commission at Paris and elsewhere; and have any officials of the British Delegation been promised compensation for loss of office in the event of the Reparation Commission being wound up?
§ Sir R. HORNEThe answer is a long one, and I shall ask leave to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ The following is the answer:
§ I am informed that the British Delegation to the Reparation Commission consists of three persons—the Delegate, Assistant Delegate and National General Secretary. The Delegate and Assistant Delegate hold office at His Majesty's pleasure, the National Secretary under the Reparation Commission at one month's notice. The Delegate receives a salary of 100,000 gold marks per annum; the Assistant Delegate receives a sterling salary of £4,000 per annum (inclusive of allowance); the National Secretary 48,000 gold marks per annum. The Delegate and National Secretary also receive an allowance equal to 20 per cent. of salary for additional expenses of foreign residence and an allowance of the same amount for official expenses. The staff of the British Delegation consists of 30 persons at various rates of salary from 7,200 francs to 36,000 gold marks per annum, with allowances for additional expenses of foreign residence of 20 per cent in the case of the more highly paid, and at slightly higher percentage rates in the case of those on lower salaries. The total cost of the salaries and allowances of the staff is 118,800 gold marks, £5,053 sterling, and 294,973 francs per annum. Apart from the British Delegation, there are 229 persons (including the administrative and clerical staff, male and female) of British nationality in the general service of the Reparation Commission and bodies under its control, including Mr. J. A. Salter, C.B., the Secretary-General of the Commission. Mr. Salter receives a salary of 60,000 gold marks per annum and allowances similar to those of the British Delegate and National General Secretary. The salaries and expenses of the Reparation Commission (including those of the British Delegation) are, under Article 240, Part VIII, of the Treaty of Versailles, paid by Germany. They are not charged against Reparation receipts, but are separately remitted by the German Government.
§ The salaries appropriate to the posts held by them in the Civil Service before their appointment to the Reparation Commission continue in the cases of Sir John Bradbury and 19 other members and officers of the Reparation Commission technically to be borne on the votes of 231 their respective Departments, but no actual payment is made to them. These officers are in consequence permitted to reckon their service with the Reparation Commission for Civil Service pension in consideration of payment to the Exchequer of a contribution representing the value of the privilege as assessed by the Government Actuary. In the case of Mr. Salter, who does not count his service for pension, there is no charge whatever against moneys provided by Parliament. A statement published by the Reparation Commission gives the present annual expenses of the Reparation Commission as 13 million gold marks and the aggregate sums received from and credited to Germany by the Commission in respect of her Peace Treaty obligations as approximately 6½ milliard gold marks. In the case of those civil servants whose service with the Reparation Commission and League of Nations is treated as seconded service the privilege is allowed of returning to their Civil Service appointment on the termination of their engagement with those bodies. In the case of Sir John Bradbury, whose previous Civil Service appointment as Joint Secretary to the Treasury no longer exists, it would be open to the Treasury, in the event of his present appointment being terminated by abolition or re-organisation securing greater economy and efficiency in the working of the Commission, to award a compensation allowance not exceeding the amount of the compensation allowance which would have been awarded to him if he had continued to hold his previous Civil Service appointment and his service therein had been similarly terminated.
§ 57. Sir REGINALD BLAIRasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the salary of the chief British representative on the Reparation Commission is a charge on the British Exchequer, and what that salary amounts to?
§ Sir R. HORNEI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to-day to the Hon. Member for the Eastern Division of Leyton.