CO885-(18-19) — Page 355

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

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19 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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47. The provisional classification contemplates the division of the offices into four classes, to which we recommend that rates of pension of £60, £48, £36, and £24 a year, should be attached in respect of each year of pensionable administration in the respective classes in addition to any pension earned by previous civil service (Home, Colonial, or Indian). The pensions would thus depend on the status of the several offices in which a Governor has served, and not, as at present, on that of the government of the highest class-a matter to which we attach some importance, as it is found that under existing arrangements there is a tendency to press for a highly paid office during the last few years of service in order to qualify for a substantial increase in pension.

48. This proposal, however, renders it necessary to take into consideration the question of fractions of a year. A Governor is liable to frequent transfer from one office to another, and his total pension would be materially affected in many cases if the fractions of a year's service at each transfer were disregarded. We are, there- fore, of opinion that each completed month should reckon as one-twelfth of a year in determining the pension due in respect of each class of government held. A pre- cedent for this exists in the pension laws of many Crown Colonies and Protectorates between which transfers of officers are frequent.

49. With regard to the qualifications necessary for a Governor's pension, we recommend that a Governor shall be eligible for pension

(a) on attaining the age of 60; or

(b) on medical certificate; or

(c) on a declaration by the Secretary of State that his further employment is

impracticable; or

(d) on abolition of office,

provided always that in the case of a Governor without previous civil service no pension shall be granted unless he has completed ten years' pensionable administra- tion.

both in this connexion and in

50. The term "pensionable administration connexion with the actual calculation of the pension on the basis of the number of years' service, is intended to have the same signification as has already been attached to it under the power granted in section 12 of the Act of 1865; that is to say, it includes all periods spent on leave of absence from the Government and in travelling to assume the Government not exceeding one-sixth of resident administration, or in the case of service in countries or places declared unhealthy under the Act of 1876, one-quarter of resident administration.

51. The principle that a pension should be granted to a Governor for whom further employment cannot be found is, in the case of officers with previous civil service, provided for in section 12 of the Superannuation Act of 1859, and we attach much importance to its extension to Governors without such previous service. Under the existing Acts it is often found necesary, in order to avoid inflicting hardship, to retain in office a Governor whose retirement would be expedient in the public interest. This drawback was foreseen, even before the Act of 1865 was passed, by Sir H. Taylor, who wrote to Sir F. Rogers on the 18th of May, 1865, in the following

terms:-

52.

The Bill will not, as we had hoped, help us in weeding the service; but on the contrary, as you say, it will materially hinder us. In all cases in which the Secretary of State has been or shall be betrayed into appointing an unfit man (and it is a service in which fitness cannot be known without trial), he will be almost constrained to continue him in employment till he shall have earned a pension; and this will not be till he is 60 years of age."

Our recommendation would, we think, go far to meet this difficulty in the case of Governors without previous civil service, but we have considered it necessary to provide for a minimum period of ten years' pensionable administration in order to exclude cases in which a Governor accepts office without any intention of continu- ing to be a Governor beyond his first term and without any expectation of or desire for a pension. In such cases we see no reason why pension rights, which are not now enjoyed. should be conferred: but we think that a Governor with previous service should continue to be allowed to retire on pension at the end of his first term of office if he then retires on the ground that his continued employment is impracticable, or at any time on medical certificate, provided, of course, that his total service amounts to not less than ten years.

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54.

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We have considered the effect of our proposals in connexion with a number of actual cases, and we find that they would have the effect of improving the position of Governors with previous civil service, and that they would on the whole not injuriously affect Governors who have no previous service. The latter class might in some cases qualify under the present system for larger pensions than we now propose, but this possibility is in our opinion outweighed by the greater security which they will have of obtaining a substantial pension. Our proposals would benefit, in particular, the Governors of those small Colonies in the present fourth class in which the salary is only to a very small extent based on considerations of expenses of representation and in which the present system gives very small pensions. At present the Governors of these Colonies have no hope of obtaining a substantial pension except by transfer to a Government of a higher class.

There would however be cases, especially among Governors with previous service, naval and military as well as civil, in which the total pension from all sources would give unduly large pensions, and it is therefore necessary to prescribe a maxi- mum limit. The largest total pension which can under the existing Acts be granted to a Governor with previous civil service is fixed by section 3 of the Pensions (Colonial Service) Act of 1887, which provides for a limit of £1,000 a year or two-thirds of the final salary in the permanent civil service, whichever is greater. A maximum of £1,000 a year, however, does not afford an adequate retiring allowance in many cases in which a Governor, possibly after considerable civil service, has held offices of great responsibility for a number of years; and two-thirds of the salary of the last previous appointment would usually be less than £1,000 a year. The same difficulty may arise in the case of Governors with naval or military service, to whom we consider that the condition as to a maximum pension should be applied; and the alternative of two-thirds has, of course, no application to Governors without any previous service under the Crown.

In view of the special circumstances which determine the rate of Governors' salaries in the various Colonies, it is impossible to fix the maximum pension as a fraction of the salary of the Governorship last held, and after consideration we are of opinion that the only satisfactory course would be to adopt as the limit of the total pension from all sources a definite annual rate, which, we suggest, should be £1,300 a year. Our choice of this rate is based partly on the fact that it is the rate of pension applicable in the case of Ministers in the Diplomatic Service and partly on the fact that it represents, approximately, the largest pension to which a civil servant in this country can hope to attain if he becomes the permanent head of one of the principal Departments. Any reduction in the total pension would be effected, as at present, by a reduction in the amount payable from Imperial funds in respect of the Governor's pension.

55.

56. We have considered the provisions of section 7 of the Act of 1865 as to abatement of Governor's pension in certain circumstances, and we are of opinion that the exemption from this abatement which is provided for in section 3 of the Pensions (Colonial Service) Act of 1887 in the case of pensions for previous civil service should be extended to the case of Governors in receipt of naval or military half pay or retired pay. We think that, even as regards the abatement of the pension of a Governor who subsequently receives further public employment in a civil capacity, or who draws naval or military full pay, the provisions of the section are not free from objection, but we have been unable to suggest any more satisfactory arrange- ment. We therefore recommend that the section should be re-enacted as regards the future" effective "salary or emoluments of a retired Governor, but that it should be provided that if he had at the date of retirement, or subsequently becomes entitled to, any pension or retired pay "in addition to his Governor's pension, he should be allowed to retain both pensions, subject to the maximum of £1,300 a year.

ts

IV. Naval or Military Officers in Civil Employment.

57. Two cases arising out of the employment of naval or military officers as Colonial Governors or in Colonial civil appointments have been referred to us by the Colonial Office for our consideration.

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