HC Deb 29 June 1891 vol 354 cc1719-20
MR. DIXON-HARTLAND (Middlesex, Uxbridge)

I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, as promotion to the Higher (now First) Division of the Civil Service, the prospect of which was held out as an inducement to gentlemen to enter the Lower (now Second) Division, has been practically suspended since 1886, the year in which Lower Division Clerks first became eligible by service for such promotion, and as there are now a large number of vacancies in the First Division he will cause some of such vacancies to be filled at an early date by the promotion of Second Division Clerks, under Clause 18 of the Order in Council of 12th February, 1876, as amended by Clause 12 of the Order in Council of 21st March, 1890; when the Treasury sanction will be given to the promotion of those Second Division Clerks who have been recommended for exceptional promotion to the higher grade of the Second Division, under the latter part of the second paragraph of Clause 6 of the Order in Council of 21st March, 1890; and whether, as the heads of many Departments of the Civil Service are in doubt as to the proper interpretation of Clause 36 of the Treasury Minute of 10th August, 1889, which provides for the selection of a certain number of Second Division Clerks for special posts, he will issue instructions to the heads of Departments as to the class of appointments intended to be treated as "special posts"?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN,) St. George's, Hanover Square

I demur to the statement that the prospect of promotion to the Higher Division of the Civil Service was held out as an inducement to men to enter the Lower Division. On the contrary, the Playfair Commission emphasised the distinction between the two Divisions, and expressed the opinion that "promotion from the Lower to the Higher Division should be of rare occurrence." It is not the fact, however, that such promotion has been practically suspended since 1886. The hon. Member should be aware, I think, that one of the principal recommendations of the Royal Commission on Civil Establishments was that the present Upper Division should be largely reduced, and I can give no pledge that the Government will disregard this recommendation. Exceptional merit will be rewarded in the spirit of the recommendation of the Playfair Commission and the Ridley Commission, and of the Order in Council in 1890, and I cannot do better than quote the words used in the Report of the Ridley Commission as showing our policy:— We are of opinion that it is desirable to secure young men of more liberal education for those posts in the Service which are not simply clerical, but demand a wider and more cultivated view of public affairs than can as a rule be expected from youths entering by the lower examination. We agree with the Play-fair Commission that the best preparation for the Upper Division is not to be found in the purely clerical routine of the ordinary clerkships, though there may be exceptions, and while we desire to leave the heads of offices a free choice among all clerks in the Service, we think that a strict line can, and ought to be, drawn between the work of the two Divisions. The Upper Division, however, should be much smaller than at present, and in some offices need not exist at all. In reply to the second paragraph of the hon. Member's question, I beg to refer him to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for North Camberwell on May 5 last. If heads of Departments feel such doubts as are hinted at in the last paragraph of the hon. Member's question, they will, no doubt, address the Treasury on the subject.