§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in December of last year, a Petition was received from the Ridley Clerks of the Second Division asking for a revision of their scheme of salary; and as nearly six months have now elapsed since its receipt, whether a reply can be given immediately; and whether, in the consideration of this Petition, the Treasury will endeavour to remedy the system which exists in the Government service whereby a junior clerk of the Playfair Second Division, who may be only two years senior to a clerk of the Ridley Second Division, receives a salary of over £50 a year more than the latter?
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY(Sir JOHN HIBBEBT, Oldham)A reply will shortly be given to the Petition, which was duly received. The salary of the Second Division was fixed in 1890, after very full consideration by the Royal Commission. The Government has no intention of altering it. The scale previously in force has been given to no one since employed, but it cannot be taken away from clerks then serving. A clerk on the new scale who serves till he is 65 will have received in salary £1,700 more than if he had been paid on the old scale.