§ MR. HARMSWORTHTo ask the Secretary to the Treasury if his attention has been drawn to the fact that clerks of five years service are appointed to principal clerkships in the Secretary's Department of the Inland Revenue at salaries from £600 to £700 a year; and whether, in the interests of economy, he will consider the advisability of introducing some less expensive method of promotion.
§ (Answered by Mr. Arthur Elliot) It is true that, owing to the occurrence of an unusual number of vacancies, and consequently of an exceptionally rapid flow of promotion, some clerks of 290 the first division have obtained promotion to the rank of principal clerk after a service of five years. In no case has a clerk been promoted who was not, in the opinion of the Board of Inland Revenue, fully qualified to discharge the duties of principal clerk.