HC Deb 11 June 1906 vol 158 cc698-9
MR. SEARS

I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state who exercises the patronage connected with appointments to probate registries inside London and in other parts of the United Kingdom; and whether he will consider the advisability of arranging that candidates for such employment shall be dealt with by the Civil Service Commission in the usual way.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fifeshire, E.

All appointments to the principal probate registry in London and to district probate registrarships in England and Wales are made by the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division. District probate registrars receive allowances for clerical assistance out of which they employ and pay their own clerks. The same system obtains in Ireland, the appointments being there made by the Judge of the Probate Court. In Scotland the principal probate officer is the commissary clerk, who is appointed by the Crown, aud receives an allowance for clerical assistance. In accordance with the Act 39 & 40 Vic, Cap. 70, the duties of district commissary clerks, corresponding to district probate registrars in England, are discharged by the sheriff clerks. Any alteration in this system would require legislation. Any question as to the desirability of such legislation is not primarily a matter for the Treasury, but I am not aware of any sufficient grounds for considering that a change is required in the public interest.