§ [SECOND READING.]
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ VISCOUNT SANDHURSTMy Lords, this is a very short Bill which has passed 112 through the House of Commons without comment. Its object is to remedy an inequality as regards pay and allowances in the case of police constables who joined His Majesty's Forces at the beginning of the war. By Section 1 of the Police Reservists (Allowances) Act, 1914, the amount payable by the police authority to the wife and children of a police constable serving with the Forces is limited to an amount which, with the various allowances, shall not exceed what the police constable was receiving per week when he joined the Forces. But those constables who joined the Forces at a later date are, owing to the pay of the police having been increased and also owing to war bonuses having been given, placed in a better position than those who joined at the beginning of the war. The object of this Bill is to remedy this; and the change is to date from January 15, 1917, the date when the increase in separation allowances took effect. In addition, the Bill enables allowances to continue to be paid for twenty-six weeks after the constable's death, which is the same arrangement as that which exists in the case of widows of officers of local authorities under the Local Government (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916. The Bill further enables police authorities to make contributions out of the Police Fund to police orphanages.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Viscount Sandhurst.)
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House to-morrow.