§ 13. Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that the last occasion on which the basic scale 953 of naval long-service pensions, established by William IV's Order in Council of 24th August, 1831, of ½d. per day pension per year of service for able seamen, with additions of ½d. for petty time and ¼d. for leading seaman time, was increased was in 1919; what is the present basic pension of an able seaman on the 1919 scale, before receiving the additional 5d. per day at 55 and 4d. at 65; and what consideration is being given to increasing the present basic pension of1½d. per day per year of service for able seamen after 22 years' service, and the ½d. and ¼d. for petty and leading seaman time.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingNo, Sir. The elements for service and rank in naval long-service pensions were again increased in 1945, 1950, 1956, 1959 and 1962.
If assessed on service alone, the basic pension of an able seaman with 22 years' service who was pensioned under the 1919 Code would be 19s. 3d. a week.
Pensions awarded under the 1919 Code are increasable under the 1944–47, 1952, 1956 and 1959 Pensions (Increase) Schemes and will be further increased following the passage of the new Pensions (Increase) Bill. No increase in the original basic elements for service and rank of the 1919 Code are contemplated.
§ Commander PurseyIs the Civil Lord aware that naval ratings and Royal Marines pensioned on the 1919 scale, that is to say, the 1831 system—I have a copy of the Order in Council in my pocket—were pensioned until 1950 under that scale, or later, so that today those below age 55 have not yet received the 5d. increase due at 50 or the over-60s' increases to which he refers? They do not come into it at all. The able seaman's pension, as the hon. Gentleman says, is 19s. 3d—
§ Commander PurseyWhat is wrong with the Conservative Party? Do hon. Members opposite want these halfpennies and farthings still to go on?
§ Commander PurseyThe able seaman's basic pension, as the Civil Lord has said—this is not my statement; I am quoting the Civil Lord—is 19s. 3d. 954 a week after 22 years' service. Does the Tory Party support that? Petty officers are still drawing the ½d. for petty time and the ¼d. for leading seaman's time instituted in 1831.
Is it not high time that the l½d. basic pension was increased so that these pensioners had a better pension than 19s. 3d. a week after 22 years' service, and also that the petty officer's 1831 ½d. and especially the ¼d. were increased, since the ¼d is no longer legal tender?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe supplementary question has now reached the stage when I must rule it out of order by sheer length.