HC Deb 25 June 1951 vol 489 cc987-8
34. Mr. Shepherd

asked the Minister of Transport if he will make regulations allowing rewards to railwaymen who return lost property, for whom there is at present no reward.

Mr. Barnes

Present arrangements in regard to the disposal of money or other property found by railway employees are of long standing and so far as I am aware have worked reasonably well. I see no sufficient reason to alter them.

Mr. Shepherd

Is it not clear that if a railwayman has no chance of obtaining a reward when he finds lost property, and be sees the lost property being sold at public auction sales, he is not likely to return it? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have lost a gold watch and a dress shirt in railway sleeping compartments and that, therefore, the present arrangements cannot be very satisfactory?

Mr. Barnes

In the case of money, 50 per cent. of the value is returned, but "property" covers such a wide and varied range that it presents a special difficulty.

Sir Ralph Glyn

Is it not a reflection upon railwaymen to suggest that they should be rewarded for doing their duty? Is it not their business to return anything which they find on the railways?

Mr. Shepherd

Why does the right hon. Gentleman see a valid distinction between a reward for money and a reward for property, especially as property is now very much more valuable than when the regulations were framed and money is worth much less?

Mr. Barnes

There is really a great difference between the two when we consider the bulk of property which travels on the railways.