§ MR. JOHN KELLY (Camberwell, N.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the provisions of paragraph 35 of the Treasury Minute on Civil Establishments of the 10th instant, clerks at present employed in six-hour offices will be placed on the same footing, when such offices are converted into seven-hour offices, as their colleagues now serving in seven-hour offices; and, whether, for example, two men of say nine years' service, one now serving in a six-hour office and the other in a seven-hour office, will, under the new scheme, receive equal salaries?
§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)In view of the fact that Lower 252 Division clerks appointed to seven-hour offices are, under their original terms of service, entitled to an additional £15 per annum beyond the salary attaching to a clerkship in a six-hour office, and that their right to the same is clearly admitted in the Report of the Ridley Commission, a relaxation of Condition 2 of Section 35 of the Treasury Minute of 10th August will be allowed in the case of Lower Division clerks in six-hour offices.
§ MR. GOSCHENThe transition from one system to another must always be attended by some anomalies and inequalities. We believe the position of all Lower Division clerks to be improved by the terms given in the Minute; but we consider that the higher scale proposed for all these clerks should be accompanied by certain conditions, one of which would secure a universal system of seven hours. Some Lower Division clerks gain rather more than others by the change, but this may be unavoidable, and is not necessarily inequitable, if there is some advantage offered to all. Still, as I said yesterday, the Minute conveys the broad outlines of the scheme, which will be worked out in detail in the Order in Council, and may necessitate some special adjustments.
§ MR. JOHN KELLYWill the two years mentioned in line 5, of paragraph 35, of the Treasury Minute take effect from the date of the last increment granted under the Playfair Scheme to each clerk who entered the service under that scheme?
§ MR. GOSCHENI do not think it is desirable to anticipate the detailed arrangements which are in progress.
§ MR. JOHN KELLYWill the right hon. Gentleman make provision in the proposed Order in Council, giving effect to the Treasury Minute, so that clerks, not being Lower Division Clerks, employed in the Law Courts and other nomination Departments, whose initial salaries are £200 and the maximum less than £250, may be placed on the same footing, as regards promotion and the increased maximum salary, as the first grade of the Second Division?
§ MR. GOSCHENThe proposals contained in the Treasury Minute to which the hon. Member alludes refer to the Lower Division of the Civil Service, and I am not at present prepared to pledge myself as to what will be done in the 253 case of established clerks in offices where there are no Lower Division clerks.