PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.885
19 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TU|
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CROWN AGENTS' ENQUIRY COMMITTEE:
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"Government. It must be understood, however, as regards the staff who
employed or appointed by the Agents themselves, that this arrangement will not "confer upon them any special claim to superannuation in the event of the Agents "being desirous of dispensing with their services on account of incapacity or "misconduct, and in all cases it must be fully understood that there can be no claim, "under any circumstances, upon Imperial Funds."
56. In a circular despatch of 31st December, 1863 [C. 3075], the Secretary of State stated that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury concurred with him in thinking it just and necessary that the position of the members of the Crown Agents' establishments "should be rendered more attractive by giving them advantages analogous as far as possible to those enjoyed by officers of the Imperial Government "in respect of retiring allowances."
57. On 19th January, 1878, the Crown Agents, in proposing to pension a member of the staff who had become insane, submitted for the approval of the Secretary of State: "That in every case in which it is decided that a member of the Crown Agents' Department is entitled to a retiring allowance, the amount of such allowanco *shall be calculated upon the terms set forth in the various Superannuation Acts "and Treasury Minutes which govern the pensions of members of the Civil Service."
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58. The Secretary of State's reply was: "Pensions should be granted in strict "accordance with the rules observed in the Imperial Service, but with full notice to "all persons on joining your department, that while all proper measures will be taken "to insure the adequacy and permanency of the sources from which the pensions are "drawn, the failure of those sources from any cause whatever will necessitate either "the suspension of the payment of pensions altogether, or a pro rata reduction in "their amount, and that neither the Colonial Governments nor Her Majesty's "Government can be responsible for the payment of any pensions except from such "receipts of the Crown Agents' Department as may be available in the manner "described in this letter.'
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59. In the same letter the Crown Agents had suggested that on a pension being fixed, a sum sufficient to purchase a Government Annuity equal to the allowance should be withdrawn from the Reserve Fund, and either given to the man or invested in a Government Annuity on his behalf. The Secretary of State rofused to agree to this, however, on the ground that the provision of pensions was not the only purpose of the Reserve Fund, and that to adopt the suggested course might result in placing those officers who were the first to retire in a position of unfair advantage compared to their successors, and the letter added: "Sir M. Hicks Beach is of opinion that pensions should be paid, as salaries now are, from the ordinary income, without drawing upon the Reserve Fund so long as that income is sufficient."
60. Pensions to the Crown Agents and their staff are always submitted to the Colonial Office for the approval of the Secretary of State.
61. The pensions and compassionate allowances as returned on the 31st of December, 1907, amounted in all to £4,268 6s. 2d. per annum. An examination of them shows that they have in some cases been calculated on a more favourable basis than would have been allowed had the pensioners served in the Civil Service; in two cases they amounted to over two-thirds of the emoluments on which they were based. Indeed, during the past 10 years the Crown Agents appear to have acted on the assumption that they were entitled to considerable latitude in recommending special pensions to members of their staff.
62. The Committee consider that pensions of officers in the Crown Agents' Department should be calculated strictly in accordance with, and be subject to, the rules which govern the grant of pensions in the Home Civil Service. Accordingly pensions should be at the rate of one-sixtieth of the retiring salary for every completed year of service, no pension should exceed two-thirds of the retiring salary, and no addition should be made on account of professional qualifications. Further, no pension should be granted to any officer, male or female, below the age of 60, except, as in the case of the Home Civil Service, on reorganisation of office or medical certificate of incapacity.
REPORT.
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63. The Committee recommend that, as in the case of similar employment in the Civil Service, lady clerks retired on account of marriage with not less than six years' satisfactory service should be allowed to receivo a gratuity calculated at the rate of one month's pay for each completed year of actual and established service, but not exceeding in the whole a maximum of twelve months' pay.
PENSIONS OF TRANSFERRED OFFICERS.
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64. The Committee consider that it is desirable to provide against the loss of pension rights by officers who are transferred from the Civil Services of the Colonies or of the Home Government to the Office of the Crown Agents or vice versi. present, unlike an officer transferred to the Civil Service of a Colony, a member of the Home Civil Service who enters the Crown Agents' Office, whether as a Crown Agent or as a member of the staff, loses all right to pension from Imperial Funds on his ultimate retirement. The result has been that such an officer has usually stipulated that he should be allowed to receive pension from the Crown Agents' Office Funds in respect of his whole service including that under the Imperial Government. The Colonies thus have to pay a pension, part of which the Officer really earned by his Imperial service, and the Home Government escape a liability which they fully admit in the case of a transfer to the service of a single colony. It appears to the Committee to be hardly open to question that the charge for the pensions of officers so transferred should be divided in proper proportions between the Imperial Govern- ment and the Crown Agents' Office. Apparently all that is necessary is that the Reserve Fund and the Office Fund of the Crown Agents should be declared by the Treasury to be Public Funds under the rules accompanying the Superannuation Act of 1892, and the Committee accordingly recommend that the Lords Commissioners should be invited to issue the necessary notification.
INCOME TAX POUNDAGE.
65. The Crown Agents as Commissioners and Collectors of Income Tax deduct the tax from dividends, salaries and pensions, and pay it in to the credit of the Inland Revenue Department. The latter Department allows the Crown Agents a percentage on the amount collected, and the Crown Ageuts, instead of treating this comunission as an office receipt, have for many years been in the habit of dividing the greater portion of the amount so received among their staff in a manner which has varied from time to time, either by payment of certain guarantee premiums, or by way of bonus to each member of the staff except the Secretary.
66. The Crown Agents appear to have received no formal authority to deal in this manner with a receipt which now amounts to about £1,000 a year, but the Colonial Office for many years has been aware of the practice, since the Crown Agents included it as a pensionable emolument when seeking the sanction of the Secretary The Committee, however, of State to the grant of pensions to members of the staff.
see no reason why this irregular form of emolument should be continued or treated as a pensionable emolument. The pensions of the Crown Agents' Office are paid for by the Colonies, which maintain the Office Fund, and the fact that the income tax no reason why poundage has not been paid into the Office Fund, appears to be the Colonies should pay for pensions based upon receipts by the staff which should properly have been applied in diminution of the Colonial contributions. The Committee accordingly recommend that the Income Tax Poundage should in future be credited to the Office Fund.
They are, however, of opinion that the existing staff should not suffer pecuniarily by a withdrawal of an emolument which, although the granting of it was irregular, may have been regarded by the staff as a permanent and certain addition to their income. The Committee accordingly recommend that to the existing staff personal allowances should be granted and added to their salaries equivalent to the average poundage drawn during the last three years, such allowances to be drawn until promotion to a higher class.
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