§ CAPTAIN NORTONTo ask the Postmaster-General if he will state whether the Order in Council of the 29th November, 1898, respecting the increments of Civil servants, applies to all increments; and whether there are any Departmental regulations which refer particularly to barrier increments as being exempt from the provisions of this Order in Council.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) The provisions of the Order in Council of the 29th November 1898 apply to all annual increments in scales of pay so far as the allowance and the deferment of them are concerned; and as regards the adjustment of salaries in respect of increments withheld the Order also applies, but with the following exceptions: (1) Increments withheld prior to the date of the confirmation of an officer's appointment; (2) Age-pay (that is, an increase in pay on attaining 19 years of age) withheld for inefficiency; (3) Efficiency barrier increments withheld for inefficiency; and (4) Deferred increments followed by a reduction of salary. The Departmental rule as regards efficiency bar increments is that if withheld for inefficiency they are not re-adjusted, but if withheld for other causes they can be re-adjusted.