§ MR. BROADHURSTasked the Postmaster General, Whether the sum voted for the increase of the pay of postmen is to be used for the increase of the pay of the present Staff; or, whether it is to be available for any increase of the Staff that may take place in the future; and, whether the £60,000, which the Postmaster General has mentioned as the annual cost of his new scheme for improving the pay of the letter-carriers of the United Kingdom, will be wholly divided amongst the existing Staff, or is intended to provide the pay required for all forthcoming additions to that Staff?
§ MR. FAWCETTIn reply to the two Questions of my hon. Friend I may state that the Estimate lately given of £60,000, as representing the cost of the new scheme affecting letter carriers, does not include any outlay which would be required should it become necessary to add to the numbers of the existing Staff. The £60,000 will be required for the new scales contemplated, and in conferring a large additional number of good conduct stripes. As my hon. Friend in one of his Questions uses the expression "wholly divided," it may be well to state, in order to prevent misapprehension, that, although the new scheme will, I believe, materially improve the position of the letter carriers an a body, yet it does not necessarily follow that every letter carrier will immediately obtain an increase of pay.