HC Deb 09 December 1902 vol 116 cc444-5
SIR EDGAR VINCENT () Exeter

To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if officers and clerks in the service of His Majesty's Government are under rules not to trade on their own account; and, in view of the fact that a number of them are dealing in excisable plate, as agents of tally house firms, without holding a plate licence, he will say what steps he proposes to take in the matter.

(Answered by Mr. Ritchie.) A civil servant is not allowed to engage in any business which is incompatible with his giving his whole official time to the public, or which may conflict with the proper performance of the duties of his office. Subject to this condition, he is under no restriction in the employment of his time out of office hours. As regards the latter part of the Question, if the hon. Member will furnish the Board of Inland Revenue with the names and addresses ot any persons whom he believes to be selling plate without a licence, inquiry will be made with a view to prosecution if sufficient evidence is forthcoming.