§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Postmaster-General if he is aware that certain of the Tweed-mouth Committee's recommendations have not yet been carried into effect inasmuch as there are now over one hundred sorters' duties in the East Central Office alone which involve not only a split attendance but also a performance of more than sixteen hours in forty-eight; and whether steps will be taken at an early date to alter these attendances in accordance with the Committee's recommendations.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Lord STANLEY, Lancashire, Westhoughton)I am aware that there are such duties as the hon. Member describes, but they occur on Friday only—being necessary for the despatch of the heavy foreign and colonial mails on that day. It is not practicable at present to abolish those split duties altogether, but every effort is made to reduce them as opportunity permits, in accordance with the recommendation of the Tweedmouth Committee. The officers who perform duties occupying move than sixteen hours in forty-eight have the privilege of counting each hour in excess of sixteen as an hour and a quarter towards the total of their week's attendance, as provided under the Tweedmouth scheme.