§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, owing to reductions caused by altering one of the conditions upon which the pensions of chief officers of coastguard were calculated, chief officers' pensions have been reduced by about £20 a year for the last 1263W twenty-five years; and, if so, whether the Admiralty will restore the rates of pensions to the original amounts by increasing the sum to be derived from other factors?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThere has been no alteration in the conditions upon which chief officer's pensions are calculated, but, owing to promotion late in life, chief officers now being pensioned have not been able to serve as long in that rank as their predecessors, with the result that the average pension is now approximately £13 less than that awarded in 1888. As I have informed the Noble Lord in previous replies, it is not intended to make any alteration in the scale of pensions.