§ MR. M'CARTAN (Down, S.)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether he will give the names of the members of the Departmental Committee who inquired into the grievances of the Civil Service writers; whether any representative of the writers was nominated to serve on the Committee; what offices were visited; whether the Report of the Committee was based chiefly on the evidence supplied by permanent officials who are in receipt of large salaries; and, whether he will state the specific points into which the Committee was ordered to inquire, and what were the points of the queries addressed by the Committee to the chief officials of the different Departments?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)in reply, said, his best answer was that he would lay the Report of the Committee before the House.
§ MR. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether, in view of the acknowledgment in the Treasury Minute on "Civil Service Writers" just presented to Parliament, that one-third of the number of "writers" employed are engaged on work of a "higher order" than that for which they were intended, he would have instructions given to the Civil Service Commissioners to suspend any contemplated examinations for Lower Division clerkships until the legitimate claims of deserving "writers" are met by promotion to the permanent establishment?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)in reply, said, that the Treasury Minute recommended that in special cases writers of admitted merit might be promoted to clerkships in the Lower Division, and that recommendation would be carried out. He was not prepared to say that all examinations for Lower Division clerkships should be suspended in the meantime. The writers were at present free to compete for clerkships in the Lower Division; and, moreover, they were allowed to compete up to an age five years in advance of the ordinary limit. In this way they had already an avenue to the Lower Division. While he was anxious to satisfy the fair claims of the writers to promotion, the educational standard of the Lower Division must be kept up. It had been the policy of the House to see that the efficiency of the Civil Service should be maintained by adhering to certain educational standards, which it would not be well to break down by the unrestricted admission of writers.