46. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Ian Fraserasked the Prime Minister whether he will publish a draft of the proposed Royal Warrant and Order in Council authorising increases in the retired pay and pensions of certain former members of the Forces; and whether he will give an assurance that this House will have full opportunity to discuss and amend the proposals.
§ Mr. AttleeI would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Petersfield (Sir G. Jeffreys) on 2nd March last. The Government will certainly announce their detailed proposals regarding retired and pensioned members of the Forces and if hon. Members then desire an opportunity for discussion the Government will give careful consideration to any representations that may be made to that effect through the usual channels.
§ Sir I. FraserDoes my right hon. Friend clearly mean that the Government will announce them before the Royal Warrant, because the Royal Warrant cannot be amended?
§ Mr. AttleeIt would be improper to publish a Royal Warrant in draft, but a public announcement can be made.
§ Captain CobbWill my right hon. Friend take such steps as are possible to ensure that the Royal Warrant will be 1036 written in language which a layman can understand so as to avoid any future misunderstandings?
§ Mr. AttleeI will note that point.
§ 61 General Sir George Jeffreysasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much in the aggregate was deducted from the pensions of retired officers of the Armed Forces on account of falls in the index figure of the cost of living between 1924 and 1934;
(2) what amount in the aggregate of the cuts made from pensions of retired officers on account of the fall in the cost of living was restored to them between 1924 and the date of the stabilisation of pensions in 1935;
(3) how much in the aggregate was deducted between 31st July, 1935, and 31st December, 1943, from the pensions of retired officers of the Forces on account of the stabilisation of pensions at 9½ per cent. below the basic rates of 1919, irrespective of the rises which would have been granted had the conditions of the Royal Warrant of 1919 been adhered to.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Anderson)As my hon. and gallant Friend is aware, the Royal Warrant of 1919 reads as follows:
The new rates … are granted in consideration of the present high cost of living and the rates of pay, half pay and retired pay, will be subject after five years to revision either upwards or downwards to an extent not exceeding 20 per cent. as the cost of living rises or falls. After 1st July, 1924, a further revision may take place every three years.I think it would be most convenient to answer the Questions by circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table giving the cost of living figures at appropriate dates during the whole period 1919–43, the adjustments actually made in retired pay at various dates during that period, and the adjustments which might have been made on a strict application of the original formula for cost of living adjustments.I must point out that the terms of the Warrant which I have quoted do not require automatic revisions of retired pay rates, at set intervals or at all, after the 1st July, 1924, and do not in any way preclude such a measure as the stabilisation which was eventually effected in 1935.
§ Sir G. JeffreysIs it not a fact that the sums deducted are very large, and does 1037 my right hon. Friend not consider that these officers have strong claims to some restitution?
| Officers' Retired Pay: Cost of Living Adjustments, 1919–35, and cost of living trend subsequent to 1935 stabilisation. | |||||
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) | |
| Date of adjustment. | Cost of living in preceding month. | Cost of living taken for purposes of adjustment. | Amount issuable per £100 retired pay if adjustment had been taken on (b). | Actual amount issued per £100 after adjustment on basis of (c). | |
| £ | £ | ||||
| 1.7.19 | … | 107.5 | 107.5 | 100 | 100 |
| 1.7.24 | … | 69 | 77 | 92.9 | 94.5 |
| 1.7.27 | … | 63 | 75 | 91.7 | 94 |
| 1.7.30 | … | 54 | 70 | 90 | 93 |
| 1.7.31 | … | 45 | 65 | 88.3 | 92 |
| 1.10.31 | … | 45 | 50 | 88.3 | 89 |
| 1.7.34 | … | 38 | 52½ | 87 | 90 |
| 1.7.35 | … | 40 | 55 | 87.4 | 90.5 |
| (stabilisation) | |||||
| 1.7.36 | … | 44 | 55 | 88.2 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.37 | … | 52 | 55 | 89.7 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.38 | … | 55 | 55 | 90.2 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.39 | … | 53 | 55 | 89.9 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.40 | … | 81 | 55 | 95.1 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.41 | … | 100 | 55 | 98.6 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.42 | … | 99 | 55 | 98.4 | 90.5 |
| 1.7.43 | … | 98 | 55 | 98.2 | 90.5 |
| 1.1.44 | … | 99 | 55 | 98.4 | 90.5 |