§ 12. Mr. H. G. WILLIAMS (forasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what is the nature of the lump sum payment made to civil pensioners re-employed in His Majesty's dockyards; whether these men are considered to be receiving their pensions in addition to their weekly pay; whether during such re-employment they receive the same rate of pay which they formerly received before being placed on superannuation, and for what reason they are discharged after a period of six months' re-employment?
The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the ADMIRALTY (Lord Stanley)The position is governed by Section 20 of the Superannuation Act, 1834, which prescribes that when a civil pensioner is re-employed in any public department, no more of his pension may be paid to him than what with the pay of his new appointment shall be equal to that of his former office. In practice, payment of the pension is normally suspended during the period of re-employment and the pensioner is later paid, in one or more lump sums, any pension which may be payable under the Statute quoted in respect of the period of re-employment. The rate of pay which the pensioner receives during re-employment is that appropriate to the grade in which he is re-employed. The re-employment of pensioners (who have necessarily been discharged owing to age or ill-health) is unusual and, 1743 therefore, is resorted to only when suitable men within the regular age limits are not available. Hence it is desirable that their engagement should not ordinarily be for a longer period than six months and should in any event be subject to renewal at the end of that period.