§ 4. Mr. W. J. Brownasked the Minister of Labour whether he will arrange for compensating ex gratia payments to be made to officers employed by the Assistance Board who have been transferred daily within the London postal area to deal with the victims of the flying-bomb menace, and who have been denied, under existing regulations, any recompense for the additional expenditure incurred by them in the purchase of meals ordinarily taken at home or in their offices.
§ Mr. BevinThe officers in question have been dealt with under Regulations applicable to the Civil Service generally, and the Assistance Board advise me that they do not feel that the circumstances to which my hon. Friend refers afford any ground for giving their staff special concessions in the matter of subsistence by way of ex gratia payments which would not apply to other civil servants who may similarly be transferred from one part of the London postal area to another.
§ Mr. BrownIn view of the fact that the Regulations to which the Minister refers were never devised for the conditions which exist to-day, and of the fact that he himself insists upon workmen having subsistence in such conditions, could he not press for the amendment of those Regulations?
§ Mr. BevinI understand that the matter is being discussed by the staff side of the Whitley Council and the Treasury, and I do not think that I ought to interfere with the discussions.