§ 79. Major GASTRELLasked if Mr. Owain Evans, who has recently been appointed inspector for North Wales under the National Insurance Act, was selected as the result of open competition; if Mr. Evans is a gentleman who formerly practised as a chemist in London and sat as a Liberal on the Westminster City Council; and what were this gentleman's special qualifications for his new position?
§ Mr. MASTERMANMr. Owen Evans was selected to be an inspector under the Welsh Commission through 'the method recommended by the Interdepartmental Committee (Cd. 6231) and adopted in the ease of the other appointments, i.e., he was selected for examination after a scrutiny of hi-3 papers and an interview with p., selection committee including a representative of the Civil Service Commission, and was then successful in a competitive examination. I am informed that he was a pharmacist and Chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Westminster City Council where he sat not as a Liberal but as a ratepayers' candidate supported by members of each political party. His pharmaceutical knowledge and his experience of public life were amongst the qualifications which recommended him for the examination.