§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Minister of Munitions if he will state the advantage in the present system of giving a number of gentlemen £400 per annum as 1657W travelling allowance and describing them as unpaid; and whether such unpaid officials are free to resign when they like?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYThe hon. and gallant Member is presumably referring to the arrangement under which certain gentlemen who are assisting the Ministry without salary are paid allowances varying between 10s. and £l per diem to cover their out-of-pocket expenses when working for the Ministry in London. In these cases no subsistence allowance is paid in respect of journeys performed on public service. The arrangement has had the advantage of enabling the Ministry to secure the services of some very highly qualified men whose professional or business standing would not admit of their accepting salaries at the comparatively low rates prevailing in Government service. There are also cases in which officers appointed to important posts in the Ministry have expressed a desire to receive allowances of this kind in preference to taking the higher rate of salary which would normally be attached to their posts. The officers in receipt of these allowances are employed, like all the salaried staff other than weekly-paid staff, on terms which admit of a month's notice being given on either side.