§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that hospital stoppages press very hardly on men who have had to go sick in consequence of their service to the State; and whether these men can be placed in the same position as the officers, who pay no hospital stoppages?
§ Mr. McKENNA:In the case of illness due to wounds or injuries sustained while on duty the pay of officers and men is governed by the same regulations, under which full pay is allowed generally until cured or pensioned. In cases of ordinary sickness, petty officers and men sent to hospital or sick quarters at home are allowed full pay for thirty days and pay, less hospital stoppages (usually 8d. or 10d. a day), for a further sixty-one days, unless invalided from the Service. When falling sick abroad, full pay is allowed without deduction until arrival in England, and is then continued under the same limits and conditions as in the case of men falling sick at home. It is true that in cases of ordinary illness not due to the Service hospital stoppages are not recovered from officers on full pay, but the regulations governing their pay generally are quite different from those in force for men, and it is considered that no useful comparison can be drawn between them. The Board have recently given the subject of hospital stoppages their careful consideration, and they regret they do not see their way to introducing any further modification in the existing system.