§ MR. J. R. KELLY (Camberwell, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether seven writers in the Bankruptcy Department of the Board of Trade have been promoted to the permanent staff, rising by annual increments of £5 to a maximum salary of £200; whether 20 writers in the Statistical Department of the Customs have been promoted to the permanent establishment, rising to a maximum salary of 10s. a day; whether 11 writers in the Seamen's Registry Office have been selected for promotion to the permanent establishment, rising to a maximum salary of £150; and whether the work upon which these men are engaged differs so materially in character from that performed by their class in other public Departments as to entitle them to preference for promotion; and, if not, whether a similar course is intended to be generally applied in all those cases where writers are employed upon duties higher than copying?
§ MR. JACKSONThe Treasury has authorised the appointments named by the hon. Member, subject to the approval of the Civil Service Commissioners. In reply to the fourth question, I have to say that the Treasury took this action because representations from the authorities of the three Departments satisfied them that there was, in each Department, work for a certain number of men which, while superior to that properly assignable under regulation to copyists, might suitably be performed by established officers of a class special to each Department and below the rank of the Second Division. The Treasury Minute laid before the House, of the 10th of August, 1889, paragraph 29, states the conditions on which such officers can be employed.