HC Deb 11 February 1944 vol 396 cc2047-9

Motion made, and Question proposed, That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £50,000, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1944, for superannuation and other non-effective annual allowances, additional allowances, gratuities, compassionate allowances and supplementary pensions in respect of civil employment.

Mr. W. J. Brown (Rugby)

Before we vote this £50,000 I want to ask for the redress of a grievance. The grievance that I want to see redressed is one to which I have often drawn attention. It is the grievance of civil servants being for long periods of time on an unestablished basis and not being regarded as pensionable. I raised a case the other day where a man had been employed for 53 years continuously in the Government service and was now being retired without a penny of pension. When I raised the matter with the appropriate Minister I got the reply that he was not responsible and that the matter was one for the Treasury. I now raise it in a general way, because this Vote is pertinent to the subject.

Mr. Messer (Tottenham, South)

He had not a regular job.

Mr. Brown

No. At the end of 53 years he was still temporary and unestablished. I raised another case recently of a messenger in the War Office who, after about 45 years' service, was denied establishment because he was not employed at the headquarters of the War Office. There is a common impression that when one joins the public service of Great Britain one automatically becomes permanent and established and can look forward to a pension at the end of his career. That impression is largely responsible for the widespread desire on the part of the uninformed to enter Government employment, and many people enter Government service on that ground alone. But out of 350,000 civil servants, before the war, 112,000 remain unestablished however long they stay in the public service, and the result is that day after day we hear of men going out after long, continuous periods of service, in some cases over 50 years, but still being regarded as ineligible for pension.

The Chairman (Major Milner)

Is the hon. Member speaking about established or non-established civil servants?

Mr. Brown

What I am asking is this. I understand I have a right to ask for a redress of grievances which are related to the Estimate. I am asking for the redress of a superannuation grievance which I am trying to explain. One civil servant out of every three is denied superannuation, however long his period of service in Government employment.

The Chairman

The hon. Member ought to raise the question on the main Vote. It is not appropriate to raise it here.

Mr. Brown

Perhaps in the circumstances I can ask this. The Vote represents an increase of £50,000 over what it was originally estimated would be required. Is that increase the result of any change of policy on the part of the Treasury in respect of superannuation? Has the Treasury now seen the error of its ways? Has the instinct of compassion reinforced the desire for justice? Is the interest of the taxpayer still so predominant that what I have complained of will continue to go on, or does this increase represent a change of policy on the part of the Government from which I can derive some hope, and can convey some hope to the 112,000 civil servants who are wrongfully denied superannuation? I know that that has all been out of Order, but I hope I have got the point in.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Assheton)

I will try to reply to the hon. Member and yet remain within the rules of Order. This Supplementary Estimate does not denote any change of policy on the part of the Government. It is merely necessitated by the fact that it is extremely difficult to calculate in advance the number of persons who will retire from the Civil Service during any particular year. The unfortunate accounting officer whose duty it is to try to make an estimate of this is invariably faced with the difficulty of providing either too much or too little. This is an occasion when he has provided too little, and therefore I am called upon to put this Supplementary Estimate before the Committee. I am sorry that there is no opportunity for discussing the interesting problem to which the hon. Member has referred.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved: That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £50,000, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1944, for superannuation and other non-effective annual allowances, additional allowances, gratuities, compassionate allowances and supplementary pensions in respect of civil employment.

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