§ 21. Mr. Jannerasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he will continue to pay the 2d. per minute or 10s. per hour to clearance divers, grade CD3, for the time spent diving, in addition to the rise in pay recently announced for the Forces.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingNo, Sir. The payment of naval divers according to the time spent under water was abolished in the 1960 Pay Code, and has been replaced by daily rates calculated to give approximately equivalent earnings over the whole period of a man's career. Clearance divers will receive the new daily rates according to their qualifications, in addition to the recently announced increases in basic pay amounting on an average to about 5 per cent.
§ Mr. JannerDoes not the hon. Gentleman think that a special inducement should be given, in addition to that to which he has already referred, for this very specialised and, in many instances, very dangerous work? Will he reconsider the matter?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingThere is a special inducement according to skill of either 6s., 8s. or 10s. a day. It is doubtful whether one should give extra inducement to men to spend extra time under water. We found that that was laborious to administer and rather uneven in results. Moreover, it means that junior ratings are able to earn much higher sums by staying under water for longer periods than others who have greater responsibility.