§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)To ask the Postmaster-General if he is aware that the maximum salary of the female supervisors at the counter offices in Liverpool, who occupy positions involving heavy responsibilities, is £30 less than the maximum salary of the ordinary male counter clerks, and that the female counter staff in Liverpool, whose duties include monetary responsibilities and consequent risk of loss, are paid upon the same scale as officers who are employed entirely in the telegraph department and have no such responsibilities and risks; and will he say whether he proposes to take any, and if so what, steps to remedy this alleged grievance.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) As I informed the hon. Member in this House in December, † it has repeatedly been decided by my predecessors that the salary of the female supervising officers is sufficient for the duties performed, and I have not yet been able to come to a conclusion on the reconsideration of the matter which I then promised. I hope, however, shortly to be in a position to announce my decision to the officers concerned.