§ 2. Major Petoasked the Secretary of State for War whether Great Britain is still paying the full scales of pay of German and Italian prisoners of war; what this costs at the present time; and what proportion of prisoners are working.
Sir J. GriģģAs the answer is necessarily rather long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the Official Report.
§ Following is the answer:
§ German and Italian officer prisoners of war continue to be credited with the pay of their rank in their own Forces in accordance with Article 23 of the Prisoners of War Convention. German medical and other protected other ranks are paid in accordance with a special 1453 agreement with the then German Government, the pay of their rank in the German Army. In either case the amounts which the officers and other ranks concerned are allowed in fact to spend are strictly limited.
§ All Italian other ranks receive pocket money pay in accordance with a reciprocal agreement made with the Italian Government. Italian co-operators receive higher rates of pay which vary according to rank and with the nature of the work on which they are employed.
§ I am unable to give an accurate statement regarding actual expenditure on pay for prisoners of war at the present time without much detailed inquiry. The expenditure will be noted among the claims to be referred by His Majesty's Government against Germany. Thirty-five per cent, of the Germans in the United Kingdom are working and over 98 per cent. of the Italians.