HL Deb 02 August 1922 vol 51 cc1085-7

Assignment of Pensions and Regulations as to Payment of Pensions, etc.

15. The following provisions shall have effect with respect to every pension, allowance, and gratuity (in this Article referred to as a grant) payable under this Order or under the Interim Order to any person (in this Article referred to as the pensioner):—

  1. (1) Every assignment of and charge on a grant, and every agreement to assign or charge a grant, shall, except so far as made for the benefit of the family of the pensioner, be void, and on the bankruptcy of the pensioner the grant shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of the creditors:
  2. (2) Where any sum is due from the pensioner to the Inspector-General or to the Crown, the Inspector-General may deduct the amount of any such sum from the grant:
  3. (3) On the death of a pensioner to whom a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds is due on account of a grant, them if the Inspector-General so direct, probate or other proof of the title of the personal representative of the deceased may be dispensed with, and the sum may be paid or distributed to or among the persons appearing to the Inspector-General to be beneficially entitled to the personal estate of the deceased pensioner or to or among any one or more of those persons, or in the case of the illegitimacy of the deceased pensioner, to or among such persons as the Inspector-General may think fit, and the Inspector-General, and any officer of the Inspector-General making the payment, shall be discharged from all liability in respect of any such payment or distribution:
  4. (4) Every grant which is a pension or allowance (other than a pension or allowance payable to an officer of higher rank than a county inspector or to the widow or children of such officer) shall be paid, after the first instalment, in advance, except in the case of a refusal to quit police quarters or premises owned or rented by or on behalf of the Inspector-General or to give up any equipment or to make any payment due to the Inspector-General; but where a person dies whilst in receipt of a grant paid in advance, no return snail be required of any payments which have been made in respect of any period after his death.

Forfeiture of Pension or Allowance.

16.—(1) A pension or allowance under this Order is granted only upon condition that it becomes forfeited and may be withdrawn by the Inspector-General, with the consent of the Treasury, in any of the following cases, that is to say, if the grantee—

  1. (a) is convicted of a any offence and is sentenced to penal servitude or to imprisonment for a term exceeding three months; or
  2. (b) knowingly associates with thieves or reputed thieves; or
  3. (c) refuses to give to the police all information and assistance in the power of the grantee, for the detection of crime, for the apprehension of criminals, or for the suppression of any disturbance of the public peace; or
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  5. (d) enters into or continues to carry on any business, occupation or employment which is illegal, or in which the grantee has made use of the fact of former employment in the force in a manner which the Inspector-General considers to be discreditable or improper; or
  6. (e) supplies to any person or publishes in a manner which the Inspector-General considers to be discreditable or improper any information which the grantee may have obtained in the course of employment in the force; or
  7. (f) solicits or, without the consent of the Inspector-General, accepts directly, or indirectly, any testimonial or gift of a pecuniary value on retirement from the force, or otherwise in connection with his service in the force; or
  8. (g) enters into or continues in any business, occupation, or employment as a private detective, after being prohibited to do so by the Inspector-General on any reasonable grounds.

(2) Such forfeiture and withdrawal may affect the pension or allowance wholly or in part, and may be permanent or temporary as the Inspector-General with the consent of the Treasury may determine.

The Commons propose to amend this Amendment by leaving out in Part I. subsection (4), line 3, ("may, if they think fit,") and inserting ("shall").

VISCOUNT PEEL

I beg to move that the Commons Amendment to your Lordships' Amendment of the First Schedule be agreed to. I shall say just one word upon the matter. You will see what the Amendment is on page 6 of the Paper. The words are to leave out "may, if they think fit," and insert "shall." This is a very advantageous Amendment, because it means that the Treasury shall grant pensions or gratuities to the widow and children of the man dying in certain circumstances. It gives no discretion.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.— (Viscount Peel.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

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