§ Sir JOHN BENNasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he can now advise an alteration of the regulations so that a petty officer or man shall not be deprived of his non-substantive rating or pay for alleged incompetent until after examination by a qualified board of officers, such as passed him for his particular rating?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe regulations now provide that before reduction or deprivation of non-substantive rating for incompetence, the captain shall order inquiry by officers of the ship. If found to be incompetent, the captain may then, at his discretion, reduce the man's non-substantive rating, or cancel it altogether. This is quite sufficient to ensure justice.