§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, in view of the delay in issuing the Report of the committee of inquiry into the Customs and Excise amalgamation and the effect of the present situation on both branches of the service, he will consider the desirability of stating a date to which any benefits conceded to the staff will be antedated?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI regret to be unable to make any statement in anticipation of the Report of the committee in question.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he can say what has been the total reduction in the effective establishment of the Customs outdoor department occasioned by retirements and other causes since the date of the Customs and Excise amalgamation, 1st April, 1909; and what are the numbers of new entrants appointed since that date to the Customs and to the Excise branches, respectively, to provide for retirements and deaths, increase of work, and other causes, if any?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSESince 1st April, 1909, the assistants of both services have been employed on the Customs or the Excise sides as required, and it would be a matter of some difficulty to ascertain how many assistants have at one time or another been employed on purely Customs work; but all Customs' vacancies have been filled as and when required. As regards the higher ranks of the Customs there has been practically no alteration since the date in question.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state what was the comparative approximate volume of work in Customs and Excise warehouses, respectively, before the amalgamation; whether the system recently introduced 1273 into the Customs service has been found more complicated than the one which has been superseded; what increase of staff was requested by collectors of Customs and inspectors in London to cope with the additional work involved when the new system was introduced; whether the Customs system of accounts was defective; and, if not, why it was not applied to the comparatively few Excise warehouses, thus effecting economy and avoiding disturbance in service and commercial circles?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEIt would involve a very large expenditure of time and trouble to prepare the information asked for in the first part of the question. The introduction of the Excise system of warehousing accounts into Customs warehouses was not due to any defect in the Customs system, but to the necessity for establishing a uniform system in a joint service under the control of one Board. It was adopted by the Board of Customs and Excise with the approval of the Treasury, after prolonged and careful consideration, as more satisfactory and economical than the adoption of the Customs system in Excise warehouses.