§ Mr. Attlee(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has any statement to make on the promotion and career of officers of the Army?
§ The Secretary of State for War (Mr. Hore-Belisha)The House will recall that my predecessor set up a committee, of which Lord Willingdon was good enough to accept the chairmanship, to inquire into the cause of the shortage of officers in the Army and to recommend measures to remedy it. They were also asked to consider whether the system of promotion from the ranks was working satisfactorily and whether it could be extended.
In March last, the situation into which Lord Willingdon's Committee had inquired was fundamentally altered by an announcement which I made in presenting the Army Estimates, indicating the intention to create a new class of warrant officer to take over a number of commands previously held by subalterns. In the circumstances, the shortage of officers into which Lord Willingdon's Committee inquired ceased to exist as a problem. This reform reduced the number of entries required into Sandhurst from 200 per term to 160, and simultaneously the number of applicants for this reduced number of vacancies greatly increased.
Nevertheless, it appeared to His Majesty's Government to be desirable to make the Army career as secure and attractive as possible, and with this object 3301 in view inter-Service discussions have taken place over a wider field than that covered by Lord Willingdon's Committee, which provided so much valuable material for consideration. The proposals which have emerged affecting officers in the Army are far-reaching and detailed, but I propose to give the House a general outline of them:
A new system of direct commissioning from the ranks will be introduced in due course in place of the present system of passing candidates from this source through Woolwich and Sandhurst. A further important change, designed to open Woolwich and Sandhurst to any suitable candidate, whatever his means, is the removal of the present limitation on the number of scholarships. In future, scholarships covering the full or partial cost of education at these colleges will be given without limitation of number, wherever the parents' means call for remission or reduction. It will thus be possible for any qualified candidate to obtain a completely free education at Sandhurst or Woolwich, and, in the circumstances of remission I have mentioned, no charge whatever will fall upon the parents either for his keep, his scholastic material, his uniform or his equipment.
Another feature of the proposals concerns guaranteed continuity of service in the Army, subject to efficiency. At present, approximately 50 per cent. of officers fail to reach the rank of major. In future, all officers in the combatant arms will know on entry that they may expect to reach the rank of major, subject to the usual qualifications, and to be retained in the Service to at least the age of 47, if they are not further promoted. The method of promotion by vacancy, up to this rank, will therefore be abolished.
In future, every subaltern will become a captain in eight years, and every captain will become a major in a further nine years. This compares with considerably greater periods now not exceptionally prevailing. Every officer entering at the normal age will be sure of approximately 10 years' service in the rank of major, if not previously promoted. Beyond the rank of major, promotion will be by selection to fill particular appointments. The system whereby officers waiting for appointments are put upon half-pay will 3302 be abolished. The tenure of command and staff appointments generally will be reduced from four years to three.
The ages of retirement for each particular rank will be lowered:
The effect of these proposals is considerably to accelerate promotion, and thereby to give increased pay at lower ages. In the subaltern ranks, however, in the years before the advantages of this acceleration begin to operate, there will be a substantive increase of pay in the case of second-lieutenants by 1s. a day, and of lieutenants by 1s. 2d. a day. Further, 100 scholarships of £20 a year, tenable for three years, will be distributed annually, and thus cumulatively, among subalterns on first commission who need this assistance. This number will be subject to revision in the light of experience.
- Generals and lieut.-generals from 67 to 60;
- Major-generals from 62 to 57;
- Colonels from 57 to 55;
- Lieut.-colonels from 55 to 5o; and
- Majors from 50 to 47.
It can thus be claimed that the Army career throughout its stages will be possible for an officer without private means.
Retired pay in future will be based on a combination of age and length of total service, up to the rank of colonel, inclusive, and thereafter will be at fixed rates for each rank. This is in substitution for the present system of a combination of rank and service, which in each individual case has made the retired pay dependent in great degree upon hazard. By these reforms, the maximum rate of retired pay for each rank can in general be earned before the retiring age for that rank, and nothing is lost from periods of unemployment, which in future, if they occur, will be on full pay and not on half pay. To give an example, retired pay of £407 10s. per annum will be earned by a major at the age of 46, having 23 years' service, whereas an officer of the same age and similar service might have had to retire as a captain on retired pay of £271 10s. under the present regulations.
These measures apply to all the combatant corps of the Army, and will come into effect on 1st August. The reforms will be so brought into operation that no officer on full pay will suffer com- 3303 pulsory retirement as a consequence, and the reduction in the tenures of command and staff appointments from four years to three will not occasion the displacement of any officer without a year's warning.
In general these measures, including the new time scale of promotion and incremental stages, will apply, as from the ruling date, to the officers of the British Army on the Indian Establishment. The consequential adjustments of the Indian rates of pay issuable to officers on the Indian Establishment will be decided shortly.
Perhaps the immediate effect of these proposals can best be illustrated by the statement that over 2,000 officers will receive promotion with effect from 1st August. In one day, over a quarter of the subalterns and captains in the combatant corps of the Army will be promoted.
Captain Arthur EvansCan the right hon. Gentleman tell the House the total cost to the Treasury of these far-reaching and most welcome proposals?
§ Sir T. MooreIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is the greatest contribution to the efficiency of the Army that has been announced since 1914?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaIn reply to the first supplementary question, the immediate cost to the Treasury is estimated at £360,000 a year, and it will increase to £600,000 a year gradually, until, probably about 20 or 25 years' time; thereafter it will decrease, as the number of officers is adjusted to the required establishment.
§ Mr. G. StraussIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Press this morning foreshadowed an announcement being made by him to-day regarding the improvement of conditions of Army officers, and can he throw any light upon what is, after all, a breach of the Official Secrets Act?
§ Mr. BellengerIn view of the possibility of hon. Members desiring to put many questions this afternoon upon proposals for such sweeping changes, may I ask the Prime Minister whether the House is to have an opportunity of discussing the matter?
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Chamberlain)The matter can be raised to-morrow on the Adjournment.
§ Mr. BellengerIs that the only opportunity the right hon. Gentleman proposes to give the House to discuss this matter?
§ The Prime MinisterPerhaps the hon. Member can suggest a better opportunity.
§ Colonel PonsonbyDo any of these proposals apply to Territorial Army officers?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaConditions are so different in the Territorial Army that it has not been possible to approximate them, but we are looking into the matter from the Territorial point of view to see whether any advantage would be gained.
§ Mr. ThorneHas the Secretary of State any control over mess dues and fees, because it makes it so difficult for a man to pay them unless he has a large income, as I found out in my own Army experience?
§ Mr. GallacherIn view of the statement which the right hon. Gentleman has made about retired pay after 25 years, which I recognise is very important, would he be good enough to direct the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the fact that miners and others, after 50 years, get only 10s. per week?
§ Commander MarsdenHow many officers will be automatically retired on 1st August, and will they in all cases come under the new pensions scheme?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaA feature of these proposals is that no one will be retired as a result of them.
§ Mr. Benjamin SmithNow that the right hon. Gentleman has given favourable consideration to this matter, will he turn his beneficent eye to the ranks of the Army?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaThat has already been done.
§ Sir Francis FremantleWill any corresponding advances be given to the Royal Army Medical Corps or any other technical corps, or are these proposals limited to combatants?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaEach technical corps has its own manner of recruitment and of advancement which differs in each case, but each one is being looked into.