VOTE 2. VICTUALLING AND CLOTHING FOR THE NAVY (Hansard, 15 March 1955)

§ Mr. Callaghan

There is a matter under the subhead for clothing that I want to bring up. The allotment system does not seem to be working as well as it ought, and I have had considerable 1162 correspondence with the First Lord about it during the last 12 months. This system is a privilege which is given to, I suppose, both naval ratings and to the tradesmen who benefit by it. Under it, a naval rating makes an allotment of part of his pay to a tradesman in respect of the uniform with which the tradesman supplies him. His debt to the tradesman is paid off at regular monthly intervals.

What I fear is that a number of tradesmen have been exceeding the reasonable limits of credit, and that whereas reputable civilian and naval outfitters allow a credit for, say, 12 months, others have been allowing credit for from three to four years. That means that a young naval rating in his early twenties, who has to make an allotment to the naval tailor of £1 a month, may be incurring a debt in respect of uniform supplied to him of from £20 to £30, and taking on a liability which will last for as long as two or three years.

A great many of them, when they have their suits, of course pay off their debt, faithfully and regularly through the allotment system under which an amount is deducted from their pay. There are a few irresponsible younger men who, having got their suits, decide that what they really want is a motor bike, and they then stop the allotment. I am sure that this is a practice which the Navy would not like. However, this sort of thing happens, and we in this Committee have some duty to see that the younger men in the navy are not led into temptation by the allowing of extraordinary credits of this sort for such long periods.

We have also some right to say that these naval outfitters who are supplying them should not tempt them in that way. I do not hold any particular brief for naval outfitters. I have myself in my time made an allotment to repay a credit which, I am happy to say, was paid off. However, this matter has been a source of grievance, and so I would ask the Civil Lord to tell us what the policy of the Admiralty is about it, and whether the number of ratings who are defaulting on their allotments is increasing, and whether the Admiralty has any changes in policy to propose as a result of the defalcations brought to their notice by me, and, I believe, by others in the last 12 months.