§ COLONEL MAKINS (Essex, S.E.)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Is it true that, in 1877, when the Inland Revenue Department, Somerset House, was reorganised under the Playfair Scheme, an actuary was employed by the authorities to calculate the exact amount of compensation due to each clerk whose prospects had been interfered with by the re-organization; and, whether such compensation was forthcoming, in the shape of an immediate increase of salary; if so, is the Treasury prepared to similarly deal with the case of the ex-redundant Customs' clerks who were distinctly promised speedy promotion, to induce them to join the Outdoor Branch, but whose prospects have since been almost destroyed by the abolition of a large number of surveyorships?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HENRY H. FOWLER) (Wolverhampton, E.)No actuary was employed by the Inland Revenue Department to calculate the exact amount of compensation due to clerks whose prospects had been interfered with by the re-organization under what is called the Play fair Scheme. Calculations were made by the Inland Revenue Department as to the loss of prospects by certain existing clerks owing to the abolition of the class system and the consequent loss of "jumps," or increase 32 of salary on promotion from class to class, and in making their calculations the Board of Inland Revenue conferred with Mr. Vaughan, the actuarial clerk of the Board of Trade. The Treasury compensated the clerks for the loss of "jumps" by an immediate addition to their salaries, restricting, however, their maximum pay to £380, the maximum of the old seniority class. No promise of speedy promotion was ever made to induce the redundant Customs clerks to join the outdoor branch, nor was there any understanding that the number of surveyorships would not be reduced if found too large for the requirements of the Service. In fact, many of the redundant clerks only joined the outdoor service when the alternative was placed before them of doing so or being placed on the pension list.