§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what allowance is paid to police officers when they are obliged by their duties to handle human corpses in an advanced state of decomposition; when this allowance was last revised; and if he will publish in the Official Report the official definition of "an advanced state of decomposition."
§ Dr. SummerskillThe recommended rates of gratuity since 1st January 1972 have been:
£3.75 where the body is searched and the fingerprints taken by the same officer on the same occasion.
£2.50 for searching and £2.50 for fingerprinting where these tasks are necessarily performed by different officers, or by the same officer on separate occasions.
443WThere is no official definition of an advanced state of decomposition; the matter is left to local discretion.