HC Deb 29 June 1943 vol 390 cc1443-4
9. Miss Ward

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will give an assurance that the circumstances under which the father of Lieutenant X. D. B. Hurre, of the Royal Tank Regiment, was asked to refund £2 12s. paid to the dead officer's account, owing to the notification of his death not having reached the authorities, will not be repeated in other cases?

Mr. A. Henderson

The sum of £2 12s. over-issued pay to which my hon. Friend refers was only one item in a provisional statement of account forwarded to the father of the late officer for his information. No claim for refund of this or of any other sum has yet been presented against the officer's estate. The final position of the officer's account is dependent on the receipt of information which is awaited from the Middle East. The question of any claim for refund will then be determined in accordance with the rules to which I referred in a reply to a number of Questions on the subject on 22nd June.

Miss Ward

Can my hon. and learned Friend say on what date that new Regulation came into force?

Mr. Henderson

I cannot give the date. It was in May. It has been in operation just under a month.

Miss Ward

Is my hon. and learned Friend aware with what contempt the country realised that the new Regulation was necessary?

Mr. Henderson

I think that the country will perhaps take a different view once it appreciates the working of this arrangement, which has, as I say, just been in, operation for a very limited period.

Mr. Denville

Can the Minister say whether this Regulation will be retrospective?

Mr. Henderson

It is not retrospective.