§ Sir JOHN BENNasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that officers, stewards, and cooks, although granted the substantive rating of chief and 158W petty officers, only receive the same pension as an able seaman; and whether he will take steps to secure for this branch of the service a similar scale of pension to other petty officers?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe facts are as stated in the first part of the question. On the recommendation of a Committee which sat in 1905 substantive ratings, as specified in the question, were given to these non-continuous service men mainly for disciplinary purposes, but the concession of increased pension on account of petty time was not considered necessary.