HL Deb 01 June 1916 vol 22 cc308-10
EARL FORTESCUE

My Lords, I beg to put the Question standing in my name on the Paper—namely:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Regulations made by the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Committee, whether the words "joined the Forces" in paragraph 1 (a) are intended to cover all naval and military reservists mobilised since 4th August, 1914; and whether the words "are members of the Territorial Force" are to be interpreted as meaning only men serving in the Territorial Force on the date of the Regulations, i.e., 17th May, 1916, or whether they cover the case of men who were in the Territorial Force on 4th August, 1914, or joined them subsequently and have been passed into the Regular Forces, and are at present on the pay lists of Regular units; whether there is to be any minimum rent or assessment for rates for calculation of supplementary grants, the ordinary separation allowance being held to cover rent, &c., below that minimum; and whether to avoid overlapping each district commissioner may be instructed to send weekly to each local committee in his area a list of all awards made by him.

LORD HYLTON

My Lords, the noble Earl has asked several questions as to the Regulations issued on May 17 last by the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Committee, with the concurrence of the Treasury Commissioners, with regard to the allocation of the supplemental allowance up to a maximum of £104 a year. I will answer the noble Earl's questions in the order in which they appear on the Paper. The answer to his first query—namely, whether the words "joined the Forces" in paragraph 1 (a) of the Regulations are intended to cover all naval and military reservists mobilised since August 4, 1914—is in the negative, for the scheme does not apply, and I think your Lordships will admit could not be fairly claimed to apply, to men who were in the Regular Forces or in the Reserve before the outbreak of the war. Those men must be presumed to have known that they were always liable to be called up for active service.

The noble Earl then asks whether the words "are members of the Territorial Force" are to be interpreted as meaning only men serving in the Territorial Force on the date of the Regulations (May 17, 1916), or whether they cover the case of men who were in the Territorial Force on August 4, 1914, or joined them subsequently and have been passed into the Regular Forces, and are at present on the pay lists of Regularunits. The answer is that the scheme applies to men who have been transferred from the Territorial Force to Regular units as well as to those who remain members of the Territorial Force. This applies equally to men who were in the Territorial Force before August 4, 1914, and to those who joined it subsequently.

The third question of the noble Earl is as to whether there is to be any minimum rent or assessment for rates for calculation of supplementary grants, the ordinary separation allowance being held to cover rent, &c., below that minimum. The reply is that no such minimum has been fixed by the Regulations. On the other hand the separation allowance, as well as the man's military or naval pay and any other sources of income while he is serving with the Forces, will be taken into consideration in order to determine the amount of the grant, if any, which may be needed to enable him to fulfil his obligations in respect of rent and the other matters mentioned in the Regulations.

Lastly the noble Earl inquires whether, to avoid overlapping, each district commissioner may be instructed to send weekly to each local committee in his area a list of all awards made by him. I have to inform him that arrangements have been made between the Military Service (Civil Liabilities) Committee and the Statutory Committee whereby the former will transmit to the latter lists of the persons in receipt of assistance from the Civil Liabilities Committee, and the Statutory Committee will supply the local committees with lists of the persons in their areas who are receiving such assistance. I may point out to the noble Earl that it is necessary that these lists should be supplied by headquarters and not by the district commissioners, because the district commissioners only make recommendations: the cases are decided and the awards are made by the Committee.