§ 36. Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Defence why, and in what circumstances, Royal Air Force personnel are expected to pay all or part of the cost of travel to work from purpose-built married quarters to operational sites on the same station.
§ Mr. WellbelovedThis matter was considered in detail by the National Board for Prices and Incomes in its second report in 1969 (Cmnd. 4079). Under the concept of the military salary, it is thought fair that as a civilian is normally required to bear the cost of his journey to work, a Service man should do likewise. However, to allow for the fact that in many cases a Service man has to live further from his work than a civilian would, the cost to him of his daily travel is normally limited to that of a 3-miles single journey. A Service man travelling more than six 623W miles a day will therefore be refunded his fares, less a personal contribution of £1.35p per week to take account of the initial six miles journey each day. This is a subject that will receive consideration in the general context of any review of allowances and conditions of service.