Captain BENNasked the Secretary of State for War whether it is the intention of the Government to adopt in its entirety the Report of the Committee on the Claims of Professional ex-Ranker Officers, and to accept as counting for the pensions, recommended in paragraph 32 of the Report, all pre-War service in the ranks?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSThe Government have adopted the Committee's Report in its entirety. The recommendations in paragraphs 29 and 32 of the Report have already been put into practice; but in order that the hon. and gallant Member may not be under any misapprehension as to their precise effect,2834W it should be pointed out that they deal specifically with a group of soldiers who fell outside the class of pensioner officer whose claim was specially before the Committee. The soldiers concerned are regular soldiers serving on a normal engagement who were discharged during the War to take temporary commissions without enough service on discharge to qualify for a soldier's pension; such soldiers who satisfy the conditions of paragraph 32 are allowed to count their pre-War service in the ranks. The recommendation has nothing to do with the case of persons who were pensioners before the War; these are not allowed to aggregate their pre-War and Great War service for an increase of pension.