§ Lieut.-Commander Tufnellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, taking the requests put forward on behalf of various Civil Service organisations that temporary service of certain established civil servants should count for pension purposes, he will state the estimated cost of such a proposal to the Exchequer?
§ Sir J. SimonA claim has been advanced by a group of Civil Service asso-2580W ciations that the temporary service of temporary clerks who were established as a result of the Lytton and Southborough examinations, the creation of the "P" class and the reviews following the report of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, should, except in the case of non-service men and of women, count in full for pension, and that those ex-service clerks who were beyond the age limits for establishment at the relevant dates should now be established with the same concession. The claim is estimated to involve an aggregate addition to the pensions of the persons covered by it of over £500,000 a year, in addition to which there would be a total increased expenditure of about £1,400,000 on lump sums payable on retirement.
The cost of the similar claim advanced by another association on behalf of women excluded in the above claim and comparable grades is estimated to involve an aggregate addition to the pensions of those covered of £70,000 a year, or a somewhat lower addition to pensions with a correspondingly increased expenditure on lump sums.
It is not possible to estimate even approximately the cost of similar concessions either to ex-service members or to all members of other classes of Government employés for which claims in respect of establishment or counting for pension of temporary service have been advanced by these or other associations, but this further figure would certainly be large.