§ 26. Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Secretary of State for Defence why he terminated the commission of former Lieutenant C. Pile number C.020515A after seven and a quarter years' service in the Royal Navy, thus depriving this officer of the £6,00 gratuity he would have received had he completed eight years' service; and whether he will undertake not to operate this procedure in the future and provide some redress to Mr. Pile.
§ Mr. DuffyLieutenant Pile's commission was terminated as he had reached the stage where, due to professional incapacity, he could no longer be employed usefully and effectively and the continued expenditure of public money could not be justified.
Had lie completed eight years' satisfactory service his gratuity would have been of the order of £4,000. He did not complete such service and therefore was not eligible for such an award. However, he was awarded a gratuity, under the discretionary powers vested in the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council.
I am satisfied that the procedure under which officers' commissions may be terimnted is both just and fair, that it was correctly applied in Lieutenant Pile's case and that it should continue to operate.