§ MR. CLAUDE HAYI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether it was arranged before he became Postmaster-General that every boy clerk employed in the Post Office, whose service is satisfactory, should have the opportunity of competing for a permanent appointment; and will he state what opportunities Post Office boy clerks possess other and better than any boy in the United Kingdom in this respect.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONEvery boy clerk whose service is satisfactory 643 has now, and has always had, the opportunity of competing for permanent appointments of several kinds; but the boys who compete are of course more numerous than the appointments available. Certain clerical posts in the Engineering Department, and Registry Assistantships are reserved for boy clerks in the Post Office exclusively. Assistant Clerkships are also reserved for boy clerks, and in the open competition for Second Division Clerkships boy clerks receive the special advantage of service marks. Some of these advantages are shared by boy clerks in other Government Departments, but none of them are shared by boys outside Government service. The question of the boy clerks is receiving the consideration of the Treasury.
§ MR. CLAUDE HAYI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that there are now over 1,000 boy clerks employed in the Post Office, the large majority of whom are in London, and that only about ten appointments as Registry Assistants and certain clerical posts in the Engineering Department are annually reserved for the 1,000 or more boy clerks; and whether as he finds it impossible to create other appointments, he will take the alternative of reducing considerably the number of boy clerks in the Post Office, so that the problem of boy labour may be grappled with.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThe number of boy clerks employed in the Post Office is a little over 1,000. Of these only a fraction, of course, leave each year. For these there are a considerable number of openings of various sorts. During the last year the special opportunities afforded to boy clerks approaching the age of twenty of securing permanent situations in the Post Office resulted in twenty-three obtaining appointments as Registry Assistants, and five as junior clerks in the Engineering Department. In addition, forty-seven boy clerks in the Post Office were appointed to Assistant Clerkships and others to Second Division Clerkships. At the same time a large number have unfortunately to leave the service. For this reason, I am already considering 644 whether it is possible to reduce the number of boy clerks employed in the Post Office.
§ MR. CLAUDE HAYDoes the number of boy clerks who obtained appointments in the Post Office in the period referred to in the question show an increase on the previous year or not?
§ MR. CLAUDE HAYAre not permanent appointments throughout the Civil Service available to boy clerks?
MR. SYDNEY BUXTOXI cannot answer that, but I know the Treasury has the whole matter under consideration, and we are really doing our best to find employment for these boys.