§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury, if, in consideration of the amount of overtime duty performed in connection with the increase of work occasioned by the imposition of new revenue duties and the preparation of the Annual Statement of Trade, and in view of the fact that the assistant clerks in the majority of Government offices receive more than fourteen days annual leave, he will consider the possibility of granting an increase of annual leave given to the assistant clerks in the Customs Statistical Office.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain) I think that this Question is based on some misapprehension of the facts. The new revenue duties imposed this year have not involved any additional overtime attendance, though extra attendance has been given by the staff, as usual, for the preparation of the periodical Trade Returns, and is paid for at the customary rates. As regards the general question of the annual leave of assistant clerks, this has been fixed at a maximum of fourteen working days, exclusive of Bank Holidays and the King's Birthday, for the Treasury and subordinate Departments. There is no general Order in Council regulating their leave, but, in the opinion of the Treasury, it would be highly desirable that other Departments, of Government should adopt this scale.