§ MR. HEYWOOD JOHN STONE (Sussex, Horsham)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether any steps have been taken to enable claims for repayment of Income Tax to be dealt with more expeditiously than they were last year; and if surveyors' clerks, of approved service and competence, will be allowed in future to compete for vacant posts in the Claims Branch of the Inland Revenue Department.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINEvery effort is made by the Revenue Officials to deal as expeditiously as possible with claims for repayment of Income Tax; and an increase in the staff of the Claims Branch was sanctioned by the Treasury not long ago. Vacant posts in the Claims Branch are filled by Clerks of the Second Division; and it is open to any surveyor's clerk who fulfils the conditions of age, etc., laid down by the Civil Service Commissioners, to compete in the examination for Second Division Clerkships.