§ 17. Major Nieldasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will consider amending the form of the soldier's pay book so as to add a column showing weekly the balance of pay as is done in the Union Defence Force?
§ Mr. A. HendersonThe pay book is so designed that the entries made in it by company commanders are reduced to the minimum, particularly while units are in the field. The book already contains particulars which usually enable a soldier's approximate entitlement to be arrived at readily. The pay account maintained by the paymaster in this country reflects the many variations due to automatic increases in pay, a number of varying allowances, contributions made by the soldier and charges made against him. I regret therefore that it would be well-nigh impossible satisfactorily to implement my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion which would result in a considerable increase in the paper work to be done by units. For soldiers serving at home the exact particulars can usually be obtained from the paymaster almost by return of post. In the case of soldiers serving overseas, arrangements have been made for paymasters to notify regularly similar particulars by means of the microgram service or other speedy means of communication available.