§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the separation allowances in the Army and Royal Naval Division, respectively; whether he is aware that, from the pay of a private soldier, the allotment is 3s. 6d. per wife and 7d. per child weekly, with a maximum of 5s. 3d., and that this is not compulsory when a man is serving at home provided the wife agrees to forego the allotment; whether he is aware that, from the pay of a seaman in the Royal Naval Division, a minimum allotment of 5s. weekly, irrespective of the size or circumstances of his family, must in every case be made, and that the men of the Royal Naval Division are infantry soldiers all rated as ordinary seamen; and, seeing that a large compulsory allotment to their families, together with the various deductions, leave most of the men serving without money, whether he can see his way to remedy this state of affairs?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThe deduction from the pay of the private soldier is, I understand, less than stated, the 7d. per child having been added to the separation allowance provided by the State. As regards the Navy, we decided to make the payment of separation allowances to wives and children contingent upon the minimum allotment of 20s. a month. We do not propose to waive that condition, and so far as I am aware little or no difficulty has arisen in connection with it. In point of fact, allotments have rapidly increased since the announcement of the contingent separation allowance. On August 1st we paid out 73,400 allotments declared by the men on behalf of their wives and families; on September 1st, 105,700; on October 1st, 126,800; and on November 1st, 161,000. The average allotment being paid at the time of the introduction of the new separation allowance was about £2 2s. a month; 20s. was fixed in order to meet the case of the few married ordinary seamen, but, as the Noble Lord is aware, ordinary seamen are, as a rule, single young fellows between eighteen and nineteen. It is the fact that the men of the Royal Naval Division are entered as ordinary seamen, but under certain circumstances a field allowance of 6d. a day is payable, whereas the private soldier is not entitled to this allowance. I may inform the Noble Lord that field allowance has been payable while in 805W camp at Walmer, and will be payable if and when the Division takes the field, and that the question of paying it when the men go into camp at Blandford is now under consideration.
§ Mr. FALLEasked the Secretary to the Admiralty if the grant of separation allowances and allotments which are to be paid to the widows and dependants of seamen, Marines, and soldiers for twenty-six weeks after notification of the death of the seaman, Marine, or soldier are to be retrospective and paid to the widows and dependants of those men who had already given their lives for their King and country before the separation allowance was granted?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThat is a question which will no doubt come within the purview of the Select Committee now considering separation allowances and other matters. I should prefer to await their recommendations before giving a definite answer.
§ Mr. JOWETTasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will state the amount of separation allowance received by wives of Infantry privates on active service prior to 1st October; and how much of this amount was derived from soldiers' pay and Government grant, respectively, along with similar particulars in regard to wives with one, two, three, and four children, and, for purposes of comparison, the amended figures in each case under the new scale?
Mr. BAKERThe following statement shows the amounts of separation allowance and allotments of pay received weekly by wives of Infantry privates on active service abroad prior to 1st October, 1914, as compared with amounts under new scale:—
Number in family. Prior to 1st October, 1914. Under New Scale. Allotment from Soldier's Pay. Separation Allowance from Army Funds. Total. Allotment from Soldier's Pay. Separation Allowance from Army Funds. Total. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Wife only … … … 3 6 7 7 11 1 3 6 9 0 12 6 Wife and one child … 4 1 8 9 12 10 3 6 11 6 15 0 Wife and two children … 4 8 9 11 14 7 3 6 14 0 17 6 Wife and three children … 5 3 11 1 16 4 3 6 16 6 20 0 Wife and four children … 5 3 12 3 17 6 3 6 18 6 22 0