§ MR. HUMPHREYS-OWEN (Montgomeryshire)To ask the hon. Member for West Salford, as Church Estates Com-
† See (4) Debates cxxv., 1311.1072 missioner, if he will say what is the present staff of the Ecclesiastical Commission; by whom the staff are appointed, and by whom the salaries payable to its-members are determined; and what has been the aggregate amount spent annually by the Commissioners in salaries and pensions respectively during the three years last past.(Answered by Mr. Lees Knowles.) Having been a member of the Joint Committee on Queen Anne's Bounty in 1901, the hon. Gentleman doubtless remembers that a complete statement of the numbers and salaries of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners' staff was printed as Appendix C to the Report (with Evidence) of that Committee (Parliamentary Paper, No. 174, of session 1901). With the exception that a solicitor has been added at a salary of £400 to do within the office the legal work in connection with the Church Building Acts which was formerly transacted by a firm of solicitors outside, the appointments on the staff are substantially unaltered. Clerks and officials, other than those on the temporary staff, are appointed upon certificates of the Civil Service Commissioners after open competitive examination, except in those few cases in which professional qualifications are required, and it is necessary to take advantage of Clause 7 of the Order in Council of 4 June 1870 relating to appointments in the Civil Service. The numbers and salaries of the various classes of clerks and officials are determined by the Treasury. The amounts spent by the Commissioners in salaries and wages and pensions during their last three financial years have been as follows:—Year ending 31 October 1900, salaries, etc., £24,244 2s. 10d., pensions. £7,330 4s. 11d.; year ending 31 October 1901, salaries, etc., £23,426 4s. 7d., pensions £7,482 7s. 7d.; year ending 31 October 1902, salaries, etc., £23,999 6s. 7d., pensions £8,004 10s. 9d.