§ 17. Mr. CHARLES DUNCANasked if the three sorters from the General Post Office who were recently appointed supervising assistant clerks in the Accountant General's Department of the National Health Insurance Commission, Maida Hill, were graded as assistant clerks for one day?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe circumstances in which the three persons referred to were appointed were stated in detail in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend on the 6th instant. Apart from their previous service under the Commission in a temporary capacity (during which they retained their rank as sorters) they have been graded and paid as supervising assistant clerks from the date on which they joined the permanent staff of the Department. Of the alternative methods of transfer open to the Commission, that of passing them through the nominal rank of assistant clerk was adopted as being, for technical reasons, the simplest in this case.