§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service personnel have been injured whilst engaged in fire protection duties to the latest available date.
§ Mr. MulleyUp to the morning of Monday 28th November a total of 117 Service men had been injured while engaged on fire-fighting duties. The worst casualty was an airman who was severely burned in a fire in Edinburgh at the weekend. Otherwise, where the injured have required attention in hospital, they have been detained for only short periods.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will give the actual or estimated cost per Service man or officer on duty in place of firemen taking into account their Service pay, clothing allowance, travel warrants, food and keep; and how these payments compare with those of the firemen that they are temporarily replacing.
§ Mr. MulleyMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department has given information about pay and other conditions of service for firemen in his replies to my hon. Friend on 16th and 28th June 1977.
182WDetails in respect of Army personnel are given below (the rates of pay apply also to equivalent ranks in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force).
Service Pay Weekly Rates (including Rounds 1 and 2 pay supplements) £ Private IV under 17½ years 39.34 Private IV over 17½ years 41.26 Private II Scale C, Band 1 51.55 Corporal 1 Scale C, Band 2 70.83 Lieutenant (mid-point of scale) 76.79 Captain (mid-point of scale) 95.33 Service personnel stationed in London also receive London pay of between £2.45 and £7.42 a week.
A 4.95 per cent, deduction from gross earnings up to a limit of £105 a week is made for earnings-related national insurance contributions. No deduction is made for pensions.
Clothing Allowance
Arrangements vary between the Services but generally speaking uniforms are provided free to ratings, soldiers and airmen; some uniform items are provided free to officers who may also receive uniform allowances and uniform tax allowances. The average annual cost of providing uniform and clothing for an Army officer in the United Kingdom is £54 and for a soldier £58.Travel Warrants
Service personnel are normally entitled to travel at public expense while on duty and are reimbursed within certain limits with the cost of travel between their places of residence and duty stations. Four free leave travel warrants are available to every Service man each year with an additional eight for a married man serving unaccompanied by his family at his place of duty. The average annual cost in the United Kingdom of all movement, including duty, for a man and his family is £261 for an Army officer and £186 for a soldier.Food and Keep
All Service personnel normally pay food and accommodation charges when they are provided with food and accommodation. The food charge is £6.51 a week. Standard accommodation charges (which include rent, rates, furniture and maintenance) for married men range from £6.30 a week (married man with no children) to £17.71 (colonel's quarter), depending on type of accommodation. Single standard accommodation charges range from £2.10 a week (for the young Service man receiving less than the adult rate of pay) to £10.22 (officers of the rank of lieutenant-colonel and above). Charges for their food 183W and personal accommodation are waived for married men unaccompanied by their families, and also for all personnel serving under field service conditions, which will apply to most of the personnel undertaking fire-fighting duties.—[Vol. 933, c. 225–6; Vol. 934, c. 133.]