CAB129-33 — Page 22

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5.

The types of National Service officer concerned.

About 5,000 officers are concerned. About half are men called up under the National Service Acts as officers

(doctors, dentists, etc. and the remainder are those called up as other ranks and subsequently commissioned.

The pro- fessional men are, of course, older than the general run of national service men and a larger proportion of them are married. They will, in many cases, be over 25 and the increases involved in such cases are normally £2.2s. Od a week, a sum of great importance individually.

In the case of doctors I am particularly apprehen- sive. The British Medical Association have always complained bitterly that medical officers under 25 do not get the full rate of marriage allowance, and they will almost certainly object strongly and vocally if any doctors in the Services do not get the recent increases.

6.

The reaction on other ranks.

The Chancellor feels that, if the increases were granted to national service officers, pressure to extend them also to national service other ranks would arise and would be difficult to resist. The fact that the majority of married officers.concerned are professional men, called up for national service directly as officers, and much older than

the general run of other rank national service men islan important argument in favour of granting the national service officers the increases given to their regular colleagues.1

7.

National Service Grants.

The Chancellor has expressed the view that, where there is domestic hardship as a result of an officer retaining the old rates of marriage allowance, it can be met by the system of national service grants referred to in the attached statement. These grants have been continued for national service other ranks who have not received the recent increases; but in the case of officers they are of little practical importance, and we should be glad, in principle, to make national service officers ineligible for them if they were allowed to receive the recent increases in marriage allowance. There might, if this were done, have to be some system of reserving the rights of national service other ranks in receipt of national service grants to prevent a possible reduction in emoluments on commissioning.

8.

Cost.

As stated above, there is a total of only about 5,000 national service officers at present. It is a question of £2.2s. Od a week for married officers over 25 not provided with quarters (£1.1s. Od a week in those cases where quarters are provided) and of 11s. Od a week for married officers under 25. It is impossible to say accurately how many officers there will be in each category and I cannot, therefore, give an accurate estimate of cost but it may be of the order of £50,000 a year. This is very small in relation to the estimate of £12,000,000 for 1949/50 of the total cost of the recent increases.

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