§ SIR J. BAKER (Portsmouth)To ask the Postmaster-General, in view of the fact that the male clerical, staff of the general manager of the Post Office London Telephone Service forwarded a memorial in December, 1905, after four years service, asking for better pay and conditions of service, that the Select Committee on Postal Servants was ap- 202 proached and informed the memorialists that their case did not come within its terms of reference, and further that the female staff employed in the same office is already established, and that two years service has been accepted as the basis of establishment of the National Telephone Company's staff when the company is taken over by the Post Office, whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the character of the work performed by the memorialists, and take steps for the early provision of an establishment for them, with pay and conditions of service equal to those granted to established officers in the service of the Department for similar work.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The question of placing the male clerical staff of the general manager of the Post Office London Telephone Service on the establishment is now being proceeded with; but the matter requires careful investigation and consideration, and some little time is necessary for the completion of the scheme.