§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the inequality of retired pay awarded to warrant officers and commissioned officers from warrant rank of the non-military branches in comparison with the amounts awarded to officers of the military branch, who, by reason of earlier promotion to warrant rank, are invariably eligible for the-maximum amount allowed, whereas the former are seldom able to obtain mo-re than a few years of seniority; and whether he will consider the desirability of a scheme whereby the amount of time served as ratings and petty officers can be taken into account in the assessment of retired pay, such as was in force prior to 1919?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMThe present method of calculating the retired pay of warrant officers and officers promoted therefrom was introduced after the War, in accordance with the policy of differentiating as far as possible service as a warrant officer from service as a rating, a policy which was strongly advocated by the warrant officers themselves, and the Admiralty see no sufficient reason for reverting to the old and more complicated arrangement under which time as 2063W a rating is allowed to count. It is by rank or equivalent rank of lieutenant-no means the case that officers of the classes who receive invariably receive the maximum retired pay of the rank in which they are retired.