§ MR. CLAUDE HAYI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he will move for a Select Committee to inquire into the conditions under which the thousands of persons, excluded from the purview of the Select Committee on Post Office Servants now sitting, and employed either directly or under contracts issued by the Department for which he is responsible, or otherwise employed in connection with the postal and telegraph services, carry out their duties, so that the grievances advanced by these wage earners may be considered by an independent body in the same manner as the alleged grievances of the principal classes of the postal service are now being examined, at his instance, by a Select Committee of this House.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONI do not propose to act on the suggestion of the hon. Member. When the Committee on Postal Servants has reported, and a conclusion has been come to in reference to their recommendations, I shall be prepared to consider and deal with the claims of any of those classes of postal servants who may have been omitted from the inquiry. As regards those employed by contractors, I am glad to say that I have recently obtained the assent of the Treasury to the appointment of an additional deputy staff officer in the Stores Department, who will act as Inspector of Contracts. Thus, the Postmaster-General will in the future be able to exorcise supervision over the conditions of employment prevailing under Post Office contracts.