§ MR. H. C. F. LUTTRELL (Devon, Tavistock)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, whether he will take the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown as to the legal rights, if any, of the clerks serving in Her Majesty's prisons, who paid an examination fee of £3 to be placed on such a scale of pay as will, with reasonable probability, insure their succeeding to a maximum salary of £400 to £450 per annum, in accordance with the terms of the Order in Council of 22nd March 1879, and The London Gazette Notice of 9th September 1879; whether it is obligatory upon the Treasury to approve or to allot such a number of positions in the Prison Department, with reasonable annual increments and without undue classifica- 1030 tion, as will give to every clerk who paid such examination fee a reasonable prospect of reaching a maximum salary of £400 to £450 before being compulsorily retired at 60 to 65 years of age; whether, in view of the number of such clerks now waiting for promotion at a salary of £150 after 15 years' service, any special claim for consideration or compensation existed in equity, annual increments of £10 for the next 25 years being necessary to enable them to reach £400 before retirement, even if immediately promoted; and, whether, in view of the great importance of the question, and in the event of the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown being considered unsatisfactory, the Treasury would sanction and bear the cost of a test action being brought in the High Courts on a point of law or the amount of compensation.
§ *MR. HANBURYThe Treasury do not consider that any point of law is involved, and they are not prepared to consult the Law Officers or to bear the cost of a test action in the High Court. T must repeat what was stated by my predecessor, on the 9th April 1895, namely:
Candidates before 1891 paid a fee of £3 because there were posts in the Department of the maximum value of £400 and upwards to which they could be promoted without further certificate. This rule still holds good for such clerks. There has been no loss of prospects, and there can be no question of compensation. In 1891 the fee was reduced to £1, because clerks since appointed cannot be promoted to the higher posts without the issue of a fresh certificate and the payment of a fresh fee.It is not obligatory on the Treasury to maintain or create posts with unnecessarily high pay for the benefit of any class of civil servant, and no prisons clerk enters the Service with a claim to rise to a salary of £450 a year before retirement, or to compensation if he fails to do so.