§ MR. T. F. RICHARDS (Wolverhampton, W.)I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that several postmen at Cardiff, who have been employed since April, 1906, as an experiment on minor sorting duties, for which allowances of 4s. per week were paid them, with the understanding that if the scheme was not finally adopted these allowances were to cease, are now being deprived of the allowances, although the scheme has been finally adopted in accordance with the Hobhouse Committee's recommendation that minor sorting duties should be performed by postmen; and will he say what action he proposes to take in the matter.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThe scheme of employing postmen on full indoor duties was an experiment and is not being adopted as a permanent arrangement, and the allowances paid during the experimental stage of this scheme for exceptional work will disappear as the duties are rearranged. I am adopting the recommendation of the Select Committee (Paragraphs 328 and 341) that primary sorting should be one of the recognised duties of postmen.