asked the Chancellor of the exchequer the classes of persons in the service of the Crown or local authorities the amount of whose pensions will be diminished through the fact that their pensions are assessed on rates of salaries which will have been affected by the temporary cuts in salaries or grants made by Parliament in 1931?

As the answer to this question is a long one, I propose, with the right hon. Member's permission, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following is the answer:

The main classes in question are as follow:

1. (1) Teachers retired after the 1st October, 1931.
2. (2) Local Government Officers, in so far as they have been subjected to a similar economy cut and have not been permitted to contribute on and to be pensioned on their uncut salaries under the London Local Authorities Superannuation (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1932, and the Local Government and other Officers Superannuation (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1933.
3. (3) Persons who entered a police force after 1st October, 1931, should they become entitled to a pension during the operation of the cut.

I should add, as regards civil servants and others whose pay was subject to periodical variation by reference to the cost-of-living figure, that their pensions have been calculated as from 1st July, 1931, on the basis of a cost-of-living figure of 50 in accordance with the provisions of Treasury Minute dated 20th March, 1922 (House of Commons Paper 55 of 1922). The figure of 50 for calculation of pensions was fixed in June, 1931, not as part of the emergency measures in the autumn of 1931.