§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Secretary of State for Air what is the total amount of pay and National Insurance contributions in respect of civilian batmen and batwomen employed in Royal Air Force married quarters in the United Kingdom; what is the estimated cost of the associated administrative services; what is the scale of allowances for batmen and batwomen for each rank; and if he will substitute an allowance to the officers concerned in lieu of direct employment of such servants by the Royal Air Force.
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§ Mr. H. FraserBatmen and Batwomen are not established solely for work in married quarters; they are expected also to carry out certain duties in the officers' mess. However, about 1,100 full time and about 1,500 part time civilian batmen and batwomen are employed mainly in officers' married quarters. Their pay and the employers National Insurance contributions come to about £800,000 a year. It is not possible to estimate the cost of the associated administrative services but it would be very low by comparison.
The scale of entitlement to batmen service is:
Officers in Command Posts
- Air Vice-Marshal and above—3.
- Air Commodore and Group Captain—2.
- Wing Commander and Squadron Leader—1.
Other Officers
- Group Captain and above—1.
- Wing Commander—1 to 2 officers.
- Squadron Leader—1 to 3 officers.
- Flight Lieutenant and below—1 to 4 officers.
The question of replacing batman service by an allowance has been examined more than once. The conclusion has been that the change would offer no clear advantage.