Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty regard the prospect of promotion to higher ratings as a satisfactory compensation to the wife of a sailor who receives a separation allowance less than that issued to the wife of a soldier; and what is the value of the prospect of promotion to a man who is only serving temporarily in the Navy?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAGenerally speaking, promotion in the Navy is rapid, men entering in the seaman and stoker classes, for which no special qualifications are required, being advanced to the next higher grades of A.B. and Stoker 1st Class, with pay varying from 1s. 5d. to 2s. 1d. a day, as soon as they possess the necessary qualifications—whether entered under normal conditions or for temporary service only. These higher grades are, I think, usually attained after periods of six to seven months' and ten to twelve months' service respectively. This early promotion, combined with higher initial pay, places the sailor in a better position to support his family than the soldier of corresponding grade and service. I should add that as a rule the men who are at the lowest payment as ordinary seamen are under nineteen years of age and single.
Mr. SCOTTasked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty has considered the propriety of making regulations to secure that the separation allowance issued to the wives of sailors should in no case be lower than that issued in the case of soldiers, the higher pay of the sailor being taken into account in fixing the amount of allotment from his pay?
1229W
§ Dr. MACNAMARAIt is impossible to frame regulations which shall be applicable to the general case, and yet, at the same time, shall ensure that in each individual case the separation allowance and allotment paid to a sailor's wife shall be exactly the same as that paid to the wife of a soldier. It is, I think, established that, having regard to the rates of pay and prospects of advancement in the Navy, the scale of Navy separation allowance is, in the general case, productive of results as nearly similar to those produced by the Army scale as it is reasonable to expect to obtain. While in some instances the Navy payment is lower than the Army allowance would have been in similar circumstances, in other instances the reverse is the case. Any series of regulations will inevitably bear hardly upon a few isolated cases; and any individual case upon which Navy Separation Allowance Regulations operate harshly is for the Statutory Committee to consider.
Mr. SCOTTasked the Secretary to the Admiralty what is the maximum weekly amount which an ordinary seaman may allot to his -wife; and to what figure in such a case does the Government raise the total separation allowance?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThe maximum amount an ordinary seaman may allot is governed by his daily rate of pay and allowances. Speaking generally, such a man receives 1s. 3d. a day as wages and may receive in addition as much as 9d. per day as allowances, a total sum of 2s. a day. The maximum rates of allotment permitted for these daily sums are 6s. and 10s. 6d. a week respectively, and intermediate rates of allotment are, of course, payable for intermediate daily rates of emolument. An allotment of 5s. a week—the minimum required to entitle to allowance—carries with it separation allowance of 6s. a week for the wife, making l1. a week in all, exclusive of allowances for children and London allowance of 3s. 6d. a week if payable. To this sum would be added any additional allotment the man may make. Separation allowance is not affected by the amount of the allotment (except as regards the minimum of 5s.), but depends upon the rank of the allotter. I will send my hon. Friend the scale.
My hon. Friend will be interested to know that, speaking generally, as the man's rating advances and his pay con-consequently increases, he augments his allotment. At the present time the 1230W average allotment is somewhere about 12s. 5d. a week. It is worth while bearing in mind also that we increased the pay of sailors as from December, 1912, to the extent of £350,000 a year. And further, it is worth noting that at the present time the men of the Fleet are sending home to wives and other dependants from their pay the sum of £775,000 a month.
§ Mr. HOGGEasked the President of the Local Government. Board whether any alteration has now been made with regard to the separation allowance of the dependants of apprentices who are now soldiers?
§ Mr. HAYES FISHERThe subject of supplementary allowances in cases of the kind referred to is at present being discussed between the Statutory Committee and the Treasury.
§ Sir GEORGE TOULMINasked the Paymaster-General whether, when a pensioner is separated from his wife and children and has a maintenance order made against him, any sum which has been added to his pension for his children can be made payable to an officer of the Court making the order or direct to the mother when she has custody of the children?
§ Mr. FORSTERWhen it is known that the pensioner is not supporting his children, the children's allowances would be payable to the mother or other person having the custody of the children, but not to an officer of the Court in that capacity.
§ Mr. HOGGEasked the President of the Local Government Board if he will state when the revised Regulations, Part II., of the Statutory Committee will be published?
§ Mr. HAYES FISHERPart II. of the Regulations as revised has been submitted by the Statutory Committee to the Treasury, and has for the most part been approved by them. There are, however, one or two points on which the Committee and the Treasury are still in communication. As soon as these are settled the revised Regulations will be issued.