§ Captain Pluggeasked the First Lord of the Admiralty how the recent increase of pay to chargemen will beneficially affect their pensions; and whether he will give a few instances of how pensions under the new scale will compare with pensions under the existing scale?
Mr. CooperIt is the practice under the Superannuation Acts to compute the superannuation benefits arising from the receipt of an allowance such as charge pay on the average of the actual receipts of the allowance over the last three years of service.
The effect of the recent revised scales of charge pay will be to increase superannuation benefits, both pension and 572W lump sum payments, but the actual benefit will depend upon the length of service of the individual concerned, as well as upon the time he has been in receipt of the enhanced rates of charge pay.
As an illustration, the superannuation benefits of a man who had been in receipt of charge pay on the old scale at 12s. a week for three years would be calculated with reference to that actual amount. Another who, during his last three years of service, had received 12s. a week under the old scale for one year and 24s. a week under the new scale for two years would have the average of these rates, i.e. 20s., taken into account. Translated into actual figures and assuming in each case 30 years of reckonable service, the second man would receive a pension 3s. a week higher than the first. This comparison is based on the new scale of 15s. to 24s. a week. As regards the alternative scale, the pension value would be calculated in the same way, but the allowances for the supervision of piece work or job work, which may be paid in addition to charge pay under that scale, are casual in nature and are not pensionable.