§ 85. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has received the £30,103 paid by the Russian Government as compensation for the arrest of the British trawlers on the Murmansk coast; what proportion of this money is to go to the dependants of the fishermen who lost their lives; how many dependants are there to be compensated; and when the money will be distributed?
§ The MINISTER of AGRICULTURE and FISHERIES (Mr. Buxton)With reference to the first part of the question, the money is understood to be in course of transmission from the British Agent in Moscow. The amount agreed to on account of the dependants is £5,516. The number of dependants is now 36, one having died since the loss of the vessel. As so many of the dependants are infants, it is not proposed to distribute the money in lump sums, but to expend it in providing for and continuing the weekly allowances which have, ever since the loss of the vessel, been paid to the adult dependants.