HC Deb 26 February 1959 vol 600 cc1280-1
26. Mr. Tilney

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what he estimates would be the total cost of raising the pensions of retired members, widows, and orphans of Her Majesty's Overseas Service or Colonial Service who, in the past, served the Government of the Gold Coast, to bring them into line with those granted to similar classes of pensioners in the United Kingdom.

The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Mr. C. J. M. Alport)

I regret that it is not possible for me to make any estimate on the basis suggested by my hon. Friend without asking the Government of Ghana to undertake actuarial calculations on nearly 2,000 individual cases. Such a calculation would obviously take a long time. I am fully aware of the problem which my hon. Friend has in mind, and I look forward to having an early opportunity of discussing it with him and representatives of the pensioners.

Mr. Tilney

I thank my hon. Friend for the latter part of his reply. Is he aware that the Colonial Paper, Reorganisation of the Colonial Service, No. 306 of 1954, states that professional, technical and higher administrative branches of the Colonial Service have been organised as a unified service since 1930? Is he also aware that there are ex-members of the Gold Coast Government service who were transferred elsewhere by the edict of Secretaries of State for the Colonies and that they were removed from territories where the pensions are very much better than at present in the United Kingdom to the Gold Coast where pensions are very much worse?

Mr. Alport

By the terms of his supplementary question my hon. Friend has indicated the complexity of this problem, and perhaps it would be best if we discussed it with the representatives when the occasion arises.

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