Sessional_Paper_1929 — Page 118

110

We consider that officers of the Senior Clerical and Accounting Staff should be dealt with under General Order No. 109 without the proviso limiting the allowance to that payable for a subordinate officer for officers in Classes II or III.

178. General Order No. 110 deals with Subordinate European Officers. We agree with paragraphs (1) and (2) which read as follows:---

(1) Subordinate European Officers are granted free partially furnished quar-

ters in accordance with the terms of their appointments.

(2) If quarters are not available, a married officer, whose family is resident in the Colony, will receive a rent allowance not exceeding $110 a month, if he rents a tenement with the permission of the Government or an allowance not exceeding $70 a month, if a separate self-contained tenement is not rented and an officer with no dependents in the Colony will receive a rent allowance not exceeding $50 a month; provided that the rent allowance will in no case exceed the rental which is actually paid, and that these allowances may be modified or withdrawn at any time on six months' notice being given by Government.

The remainder of this Order deals with the allotment of the quarters and the grant of certain privileges connected with quarters; we have no comments to make on these provisions.

179. General Order No. 110A deals with officers holding appointments ordinarily recruited locally, not including Police and Prison staff, or officers on daily rates of pay. It is at present confined to male officers of ten years continuous service, and upwards and, where quarters are not available, rent allowances are granted according to the following rule :-

"The allowance payable will be the difference between 6% of the officer's salary, inclusive of fixed personal allowances but of no other allowances, and the rent actually paid by him for accommodation occupied by himself and his dependents only, subject to the following maxima :

Salaries of $3,000 per annum and over:

Allowance of $25 per month.

Salaries of $2,000 per annum to $2,999 :-

Allowance of $20 per month.

Salaries of $850 per annum to $1,999 :—

Allowance of $15 per month.

Salaries of $450 to $849:

Allowance of $8 per month.

Male officers on salaries of less than $450 per annum are at present granted allow- ances of $4 a month, irrespective of length of service, when no quarters are available, and $2 a month where single quarters only are available.

180. We have already referred to the lowest grade in paragraph 24 of this Report. We consider that as single quarters are in the main provided by Government for the convenience of housing its employees on certain premises, either from the point of view of discipline or in preparation for emergencies, the grant of such quarters should be ignored in computing the rent allowance to be granted to married male officers whose families are resident in the Colony. We consider further that where no quarters are provided, female officers have an equal claim to rent allowances on the same basis as male officers.

We are of opinion, also, that the requirement of ten years' continuous service, which finds no counterpart in the regulations for rent allowances to European officers, should be abandoned, and that rent allowances should be granted to officers recruited locally as from the time of their entry into the service.