§ 26. Mr. HARRY LAWSONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the hours of attendance without extra re muneration of the London Customs surveyors prior to the amalgamation of the Customs and Excise Departments were fixed by Treasury Minute not exceeding eight hours per day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. for landing and shipping, and between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for other duties; whether under G.O. 54/1912 their hours have been extended to a normal day between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. for all duties; whether he will state if surveyors are required or expected to give a less number of hours' attendance per normal day under the present conditions than hitherto; and, if so, to what extent?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe reply to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the second and third parts of the question, it is not expected that, as a general rule, the attendance which surveyors will be required to give between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. in future will exceed the attendance which they have given between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the past.
§ 27. Mr. HARRY LAWSONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Chairman of the Board of 1161 Customs and Excise stated in his evidence before the Committee on the Amalgamation of the Customs and Excise Departments that, with regard to the second and third-class surveyors of Customs, the present prospects of the second-class men are to succeed by selection to the first-class scale of £490 to £550 and the prospects of the third-class men are to succeed to the second-class scale of £430 to £480, and that some special arrangement seems required to reserve these prospects to them, otherwise they would be prejudiced; whether an increased maximum of £50 was given to meet this loss of prospects and to compensate for loss of overtime emoluments; what were the average overtime earnings of surveyors and principal clerks, respectively, for the year ended 31st December, 1911; and if he will say upon what basis the sum of £50 compensation was arrived at and applied to both surveyors and principal clerks, having regard to the disparity in the average overtime emoluments of the two grades?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The average overtime earnings of members of the old surveyor and principal clerk classes for 1911 are estimated at about £43 and £l, respectively. The increase of £50 in the maximum of these classes was granted by reference to the effect of amalgamation looked at as a whole, the different classes being, of course, affected in different ways.