PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.885
18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
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(5) Officers transferred from Colonies
in which they had no prospect of pro- motion would be doubly rewarded-
(a) By the opening up of a field in which promotion was possible; (b) By the increased pension to which
they would become entitled.
(6) An officer as a rule must be held to benefit by transfer, both in immediate salary and in ultimate pension, even under existing conditions.
(7) Even if this were not the case, the task of weighing the advantages of a transfer must be left to the officer him- self.
(8) Salaries in tropical Colonies are fixed so as to compensate for the dis- advantages attaching to service in such climates. Under the proposed system, it would be possible for a man to experience the disadvantages only for a few years at the end of his service, and yet benefit fully in the matter of pension.
3. These objections seemed so strong that the scheme was not pressed on the Colonies. The following modification was suggested as the result of discussion in the Colonial Office and was concurred in by Treasury letter of the 20th December, 1870 :—
(1) În final retirement an officer should get from each Colony in which he had served a pension at the rate of 1/60th of his last salary in that Colony for each year of service there (unless, of course, service in any such Colony did not confer a claim to pension).
(2) In computing the pension to be paid on this basis by the Colony in which he finally served should be added a number of years to be determined by the Governor in Council, not exceeding —
(a) One-third of his previous public
service, nor
(b) Two-thirds of his service in the
final Colony, nor
(c) Seven years in any case.
4. This system has been gradually applied to
the following Colonies :—
Mauritius.
Seychelles.
Straits Settlements.
Federated Malay States.
Hong Kong.
British Honduras.
Leeward Islands.
Windward Islands.
Trinidad.
Turks and Caicos Islands.
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Each of these Colonies ordinarily grants five years climate bonus addition to service for the calcula- tion of pension, and in the case of mixed service between any two of them the earlier Colony gives that proportion of the five years addition which service in that Colony bears to the total service, and similarly as regards addition, if any, for professional qualifications; while the later Colony gives only the addition indicate under 3 (2) above, which covers and includes any addition granted whether for climate bonus, professional qualifications, or previous experience.
(The rules in Ceylon and Fiji are slightly different.)
5. In the case of St. Helena and of the following non-tropical Colonies, Gibraltar, Wei- haiwei, Malta, Cyprus, Falklands, the above Rule 3 (2) has been applied subject to the alteration of seven years to five, years under (c).
6. At a later date in order to facilitate the transfer of officers between certain groups of neighbouring Colonies, the plan propounded by the Circular of the 15th July, 1869, was applied
to these groups separately, with the modification that the pension calculated on the total service is divided, not as proposed in that Circular, but in proportion to the aggregate salary drawn in cach Colony.
The groups in question are :—
(1) Mauritius and Seychelles,
(2) The Straits, Federated Malay States, and Hong Kong.
(3) The West African Colonies and Protectorates.
(4) The West Indian Colonies above mentioned.
This modification to a great extent meets the objections raised by Ceylon to the 1869 scheme.
7. Jamaica has a rule providing that its share of all mixed pensions shall be calculated on the last-mentioned basis. (See Section 18 of Schedule B to Law 24 of 1901.) A copy of this Section is annexed.
8. In the East African Protectorates (formerly under the Foreign Office) the Rules under the Superannuation Act of 1892 are applied,
9. It may be noted that in the Colonies generally leave on half pay counts as half time for pension; and further that in Straits, Federated Malay Straits, and Hong Kong, pensions of officers appointed after a certain date can in no case exceed £1,000, which limit it is also proposed to adopt in Ceylon.
Colonial Office,
27618
February, 1907.
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APPENDIX.