§ SIR JOSEPH BAILEY (Hereford)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, by a Treasury Minute, dated 14th June, 1859, the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, in pursuance of Section 4 of "The Superannuation Act, 1859,"declared that a period of seven years should be added to the service of Inspectors of Mines for the purpose of computing their superannuation allowance; whether, on the 8th April, 1873, Mr. Thomas Cadman was appointed an Inspector of Mines; whether Mr. Cadman retired in consequence of ill-health in January, 1887, after 14 years' service; whether Mr. Cadman's superannuation allowance was calculated on 17–60ths of his pay instead of 21–60ths, to which he was entitled, on the ground that for four years he had been Assistant Inspector, whereas in fact he had been from the first appointed Inspector, though employed to do assistant's work; whether the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Treasury, dated 11th October, 1887, stated that up to that date it had been the belief of the Secretary of State and the Civil Service Commissioners that persons thus employed were entitled to the status of Inspectors, no intimation to the contrary having been received from the Treasury; and whether, under these circumstances, the Treasury will re-consider the matter, and award to Mr. Cadman, and others in a similar position, the full superannuation allowance to which Inspectors of Mines are entitled.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. JACKSON,) Leeds, N.The Estimates show that there are two classes of Inspectors of Mines—Inspectors and Assistant Inspectors. The number of each class is limited, and cannot be altered without the assent of the Treasury. It was, as stated in the question, to perform the duties of the latter class, that Mr. Cadman was appointed in 1873. The number of Inspectors was at that time fixed at 12, and there was no vacancy among them. Mr. Cadman continued to perform the duties and to receive the salary of an Assistant Inspector until his appointment, in 1876, to be an Inspector, when 1736 he became entitled to the higher salary and special rate of pension attached to that class. Assistant Inspectors act in subordination to the Inspectors, and can only become Inspectors by promotion on the occurrence of a vacancy. Their salaries are lower, and they do not fulfil the essential condition for a special rate of pension which is required by the 4th section of the Superannuation Act, inasmuch as they may be appointed at an age (23), not exceeding that at which public service ordinarily begins. Until Mr. Cadman's retirement, no inquiry was addressed to the Treasury, either from the Home Office or the Civil Service Commissioners, as to the right of Assistant Inspectors to special terms of pension; but the fact that Mr. Cadman was appointed after obtaining a certificate of qualification from the latter Department was notice to them and to him, under the terms of the section referred to, that he was not entitled to the special terms of pension granted by that section, which provides that persons appointed to offices placed under it may obtain pensions without having obtained Civil Service certificates.
§ * COLONEL BLUNDELL (Lancashire, S.W., Ince)Was Mr. Cadman gazetted into the Service as an Inspector or an Assistant Inspector, and are there any duties an Inspector can perform which an Assistant Inspector cannot?
§ * MR. JACKSONI have pointed out that the number of Inspectors cannot be increased without the sanction of the Treasury. As there was no vacancy, Mr. Cadman could not be appointed. He entered the Service by open competition, and must, therefore, have had notice that he was not entitled to be pensioned on special terms.