§ MR. RENDALL (Gloucestershire, Thornbury)To ask the Secretary of State for War why in the official Army List the names of the ladies of the nursing staff are entered alphabetically and not by seniority; whether this is not the only department of the Army which is so treated; and, if so, will he explain the reason for this different treatment of women and men in His Majesty's service.
§ MR. RENDALLTo ask the Secretary of State for War, whether ladies of the 530 nursing service are promoted by seniority coupled with selection; whether he is aware that, as their names are placed on the Army List alphabetically and not according to seniority, they have no means of knowing how they stand for promotion and foreign service; and whether he will look into the matter with a view to inaugurating a fairer and more business-like system.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) I will answer this and the subsequent Question by saying that the arrangement of the names of the members of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service in the Army List in alphabetical order was made at the request of the Nursing Board (in December, 1902). It was decided at that time that promotion in this service should be by selection and not by seniority. The reason for this is that promotion is made by selection and not by seniority, and the Nursing Board therefore preferred an alphabetical list. Regarding foreign service, the regulations lay down that those who have been longest at home will, as a general rule, be the first to proceed abroad. Arrangements of names cannot, therefore, affect this matter in any way. It is a fact that the nursing service is the only department in which names are shown alphabetically in the Army List, with the exception of the acting chaplains.