§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are the circumstances under which a man leaving the Army before the end of his contracted period of service will not receive a gratuity; and what proportion of those leaving under such circumstances this represents.
§ Mr. WigginShort-service commission officers are the only members of the Armed Forces eligible for a gratuity related to service. If such an officer fails to complete the period of service to which he has committed himself, the gratuity for which he is eligible will be based on the length of service actually given but abated by a financial penalty; if the penalty exceeded the amount of gratuity earned, no award would be made.
If an officer's service is terminated by the Army Board, eg on grounds of inefficiency, the amount of gratuity is at 55W the discretion of the Army Board, and it is therefore possible that no award would also be made in these circumstances. Of the 264 short-service commission officers who left the Army in 1981, 12 received no gratuity.