§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the approximate number of able seamen and equivalent ratings, pensioned before 1917 on the 1831 basic rate of ½d. per day pension per year of service; what is their basic weekly pension; what increases there have been; and what is the present pension.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingBefore 1917 the basic rate of pension for an able seaman was 10d. a day for 22 years' service. There can be few, if any, pensioners on this basic rate still living but to arrive at even an approximate figure would involve the individual scrutiny of some 62,000 records. As to the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence on 27th June.
§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the approximate number of able seamen and equivalent ratings, pensioned on the 1930 basic rate of 14s. 8d. per week; what increases have been added; and what is their present pension.
§ Mr. Ian Orr-EwingI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question could be extracted only by the individual scrutiny of some 62,000 pension case records. In regard to the second part of the Question I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence on 27th June.