§ 1. Mr. van Straubenzeeasked the Minister of Overseas Development why he will not authorise payment of half of the cost of return fares and of moving baggage for Mr. B. H. Spratt of Wargrave in respect of his service in Barbados.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Overseas Development (Mr. Albert E. Oram)Mr. Spratt was an employee of the Barbados Government and left Barbados of his own volition and at his own expense after a dispute with that 204 Government about his conditions of service. The cost of his return fares and of moving his baggage was, in the circumstances of his leaving, not met by the Barbados Government and I, therefore, have no authority to pay any of the cost under the Overseas Service Aid Scheme Agreement with Barbados.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeI acknowledge the courtesy with which the Minister has personally dealt with this case, but is it not true that my constituent was recruited through the agency of the Minister's Department and that the Department has already paid half the inducement allowance to which my constituent was entitled? It is therefore not easy to see why the Department should not pay for my constituent's travel and baggage in accordance with the terms of his contract.
§ Mr. OramIt is true that recruitment took place through our Department, but the contract is between Mr. Spratt and the Barbados Government. We made representations because we felt that Mr. Spratt had a claim for an inducement allowance, and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, that claim was acceded to.