§ 35. Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, seeing that the scheme of retiring allowances and gratuities to officers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service makes no provision for officers who retired before the 1st July, 1929, and in view of the hardship many of these men are suffering, he can see his way to make the scheme retrospective in order to include those officers who fulfil the conditions but who retired before the 1st July, 1929?
Mr. ALEXANDERI regret that it is not possible to vary the terms of the scheme as promulgated. In introducing a new scheme a limit must be fixed to the date to which it can be made retrospective and I am afraid that it is inevitable that some persons will thereby be ineligible to benefit.