HC Deb 14 March 1918 vol 104 cc494-5W
Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, when the Army Council raised the pay of junior combatant officers, they took into consideration the position of fourth-class Army chaplains; why a rise of 6d. a day was considered sufficient for them, having regard to the fact that many of them are married and their home liabilities are as great or greater than those of second-lieutenants; and whether the Army Council will further consider the matter?

Mr. MACPHERSON

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which was given yesterday to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire.

asked whether existing pensions are

Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSsimply deferred pay for work already done; if so, whether they are in any way taken, into account in the rate of pay granted to officers of the Reserve of Officers now serving in the New Army; whether such officers are entitled to count their present service towards an increased pension; and, if not, why not?

Mr. MACPHERSON

The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Generally speaking, officers who were in. receipt of retired pay before the War continue to draw that pay in addition to the full pay of their new post—an arrangement which, as my hon. Friend will remember, has been very generally criticised as too liberal. They do not count their additional service towards an increased pension, because the payment of the pension already earned by that service definitely closes their claims on account of it.