§ Mr. Channonasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is prepared to reconsider the existing regulation whereby the service of boys with the Royal Navy does not count for pension purposes until they reach the age of 18, bearing in mind that a boy on active service, when going into battle, takes as great risks as older men?
§ Mr. George HallPensions for disablement are on the same basic scale for men and boys and they have a common scale of invaliding gratuities: it is only, therefore, for "long service" pensions that service rendered before the age of 18 does not count. The existing rule on this subject is common to all three Fighting Services and is designed in the case of naval personnel to give a pension at the age of 40, or on completion of 22 years' adult service, if later. Risk in action has no relation to eligibility for a long service pension and indeed this risk is shared by many men who have no prospect of such a pension. I accordingly see no reason for altering the long established rule on this question.