§ MR. ERNEST GRAY (West Ham, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that four of the clerks serving in the Official Receivers (Bankruptcy) Department of the Board of Trade have been granted Civil Service Certificates; and, if so, whether, taking into consideration the fact that some of their colleagues have been serving in that Department for 15 years, he will recommend to the Treasury, in accordance with paragraph 15 of the Order in Council of 29th November, 1898, that certificates should be granted to those who have not less than six years' established service.
§ MR. RITCHIEThe position of the clerks employed by the Official Receivers in Bankruptcy attached to the High Court was enquired into by a Departmental Committee of the Treasury and Board of Trade in 1896, with the result that certain clerks were placed on the permanent establishment. I am not 332 prepared to recommend a similar alteration in the status of the clerks generally. The question is not affected by paragraph 15 of the Order in Council of 29th November, 1898, which relates to permanent Civil Servants only.