§ Mr. Bellengerasked the Secretary of State for War whether, in cases where a soldier whose account is found to be in debt is refused permission to make a voluntary allotment, he will make arrangements to issue the allotment automatically as soon as the account is clear without, as at present, insisting on a fresh A.F. O 1796a, thus saving time, paper and much correspondence, especially in cases where the man is serving overseas.
§ Sir J. GriggWhen a soldier wishes to commence a voluntary allotment he is required to forward to his regimental paymaster an authority to make the necessary deduction from his pay. In cases where this authority cannot be acted upon immediately because the soldier's account is in debt, the application is not automatically rejected. If the soldier is serving in the United Kingdom and the debt is likely to be cleared in four weeks,1678W payment is commenced immediately. If he is serving overseas and the debt is likely to be cleared in 13 weeks, the authority is retained and acted upon when the debt has been cleared. Only in cases where the debt is not likely to be cleared in these periods is the authority rejected. The soldier is then informed through his Commanding Officer of the date on which he should submit a fresh authority if he still wishes to do so.
I do not think that paymasters can reasonably be expected to retain the authority pending commencement of payment for any period longer than that for which he retains it under the existing arrangements.