§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the year in which the Colonial Audit Branch in London was first placed under the Comptroller and Auditor General; whether during that and subsequent years up to 1906 new entrants had to pass any kind of a Civil Service examination; and whether the status and scale of pay of new entrants for several years prior to 1906 were identical with the status and scale of pay of Second Division clerks.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) The Colonial Audit Branch in London was formed in January 1889. Some of the clerks were originally in the Second Division of the Home Civil Service, and in some cases appointments have been made from officials already in the Colonial service; but the majority of candidates appointed in recent years have been selected, without Civil Service examination, from graduates of the Universities upon the recommendation of the Joint Universities Board. While serving in London, pending selection for service in the Colonies, the scale of pay has been identical with that of Second Division clerks. As already stated, in reply to the hon. Member on the 20th December last,†this branch is in process of amalgamation with the Exchequer and Audit Department
†See (4) Debates, clxvii., 1684.