Mr. C. WASONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he is aware that numbers of military officers are performing similar duties to and sharing offices with Civil Service officers in the various Departments; and, if so, whether he will consider the necessity of granting military commissions to all of the latter who are heads of families and in receipt of equal rates of pay, with a view to bring their children within the scope of similar benefits; (2) whether he can state approximately the number of officers holding commissions in the Civil Service with families in receipt of salaries of £200 and less, and the number of those receiving from £200 to £300, including war bonus, giving in both cases the average number of children which presumably they have to support out of these rates, within the age limit now made, for the purpose of granting allowances to the officers holding commissions in the military service; and (3) whether the fixed rates of pay of all officers of the Civil Service up to the rank equivalent in the military service to that of captain were based, prior to the rise in prices equivalent to 100 per cent., upon a scale at all adequate to support their children; and have these rates, since this rise in prices, been so modified as to permit of these officers affording their children the necessaries of life, together with an education as befits the needs of their rank, now granted to the officers of the military service upon service at home or abroad?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWIt would be quite misleading to attempt a comparison such as the hon. Member suggests between the position of military and civilian officers having regard to the different basis on which their remuneration is and must be fixed. While military officers have received a special children's allowance, civilian officers have been granted a war bonus to cover the increased cost of living generally; and I do not think that on the average the civilian rates of pay compare unfavourably with those of military officers.