§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether, in view of the appointment of a new Committee on Civil Service Expenditure, he will, in accordance with the spirit of the Report of a former Committee of this House, of which he was Chairman, order a suspension of all new appointments to Class I. and the Upper Division clerkships, particularly as the inquiry may show that there will be a redundancy of such appointments in various Departments; whether any temporary inconvenience occasioned by the suspension of new appointments might not readily be met by the transfer of men who are already declared to be redundant in certain Departments; whether he has been able to transfer any of the redundant clerks from the Customs to fill vacancies in Class I. or the Higher Division elsewhere; and, whether he is aware that, notwithstanding his statement and the recommendations of the Committee of which he was Chairman, and the fact of there being an existing redundancy in certain offices, the Civil Service Commissioners have just held an examination for new appointments to Class I. and the Upper Division?
§ THE CHANCELLOE OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)The hon. Member can hardly have appreciated the meaning of the answer which I gave to him on the 7th of November last. I explained to him that until lately I had had nothing to do with the matters with which the Report of the Committee of 1873 dealt; and I pointed out to him that the recommendations of the Committee itself, even if they had been followed out, were not what the hon. Member's Question implied. As to the present position of the question, the appointment of the Committee on Civil Service Expenditure is resisted, and perhaps it will not be carried. But even if it is carried, I cannot assume that its inquiries will result in all appointments to superior clerkships being suspended, and it is quite clear to me that the present redundant Customs clerks are not competent to fill several offices which are or may become vacant. As to his third Question, no redundant clerks from the Customs have been appointed to fill vacancies in the first class. They passed examinations of a very inferior character to those which first-class clerks are required to pass.