§ Sir H. CROFTasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the position of ex-ranker officers and soldiers employed in a temporary capacity in the Civil Service who are in possession of the pre-War first class certificate, which is the highest obtainable; and what is the reason that they should not be placed on the permanent establishment of the Civil Service without a further education test?
Mr. GRAHAMThe claims of ex-service men temporarily employed in the Civil Service to be placed on the permanent2282W establishment have been considered by the Southborough Committee, whose Report the Government has adopted. The Committee find that the number of ex-service men who will be candidates for establishment will probably be at least three or four times that of the vacancies to be filled, and they recommend that a test, consisting in part of a written examination and in part of a Departmental Report, should be applied to candidates. I fear that I could not agree to the establishment without educational test of any particular class of candidates, as such a proposal is contrary to the Report of the Committee.