§ 63. Mr. HUNTasked the Postmaster-General why it is that, although a promise of consideration for promotion has been held out for over sixteen months to the 100 officers in the engineering branch of the Post Office who were passed over, during that time only nine out of the 100 officers have received promotion, although about sixty appointments have been made?
§ The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Hobhouse)The hon. Member presumably refers to appointments to the class of assistant engineers. The number of appointments made to that class in the period stated is forty-six. That number includes twenty vacancies filled from the competitions held in November, 1912, and August, 1913, and seventeen vacancies which occurred amongst the staff taken over from the National Telephone Company and were filled by promotion from 920 amongst that staff. The remaining nine appointments were filled by promotion of second-class engineers. It was not practicable in the interests of the service to assign a larger proportion of the vacancies to the second-class engineers, but the claims of these officers will continue to be considered as suitable vacancies on the assistant engineers' class occur.
§ Mr. HUNTIs it not the fact that special appointments have been given to the staff of the late National Telephone Company, and, if so, why were those special vacancies created for those men and not for long-service Government men?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEBecause when the National Telephone Company's staff were taken over a certain number of vacancies were held to be due, the posts having been created by the work brought by the National Telephone Company, to the National Telephone Company's staff, and they have been given those vacancies.
§ 64. Mr. HUNTasked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that the young men brought straight from the university and placed over the heads of men of long service in the engineering branch of the Post Office have proved unsatisfactory, he can say what steps he proposes to take in the case of these men of long service who were passed over; and how he intends to restore to them the seniority of which they have been deprived?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe candidates obtained from the universities under the scheme of recruitment introduced in 1907 have not proved unsatisfactory. As heretofore, the claims of the second-class engineers and sub-engineers will continue to be considered as suitable vacancies on the class of assistant engineers occur. Any of these officers who may be selected for promotion must enter at the foot of the assistant engineer's class.
§ Mr. HUNTIs it not the fact that those university men were found unsatisfactory and were put over the heads of long-service men, who, according to the Postmaster-General, were found satisfactory; and may I ask if the Government is not going to do anything to remedy the injustice done to those long-service men?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSENo. I do not admit in the first place that the university men were unsatisfactory at all. Those who were appointed from 1907 were found very satisfactory.
§ Mr. HUNTIs it not the fact that the Government themselves stated in this House that they were found so unsatisfactory that the system had been given up?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThat is not the case. What my hon. Friend the Assistant-Post-master-General stated was that these appointments from universities prior to 1907 were not found satisfactory, but that those taken since had been recruited on a different system, and are fully satisfactory in every respect.
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEIt has not been given up.
§ Mr. HUNTIs it not the fact that in answer to a question it was stated from the Front Bench by the hon. Member who answered that the system had been given up because it was found unsatisfactory?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSENo. I have got a copy of my hon. Friend's answer, and he specificially pointed out that what he had in his mind was the class of candidates we got prior to 1907. Since then we have altered it, and find the scheme for recruiting has been satisfactory.
§ 65. Mr. J. WARDasked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the fact that a number of university men were appointed to second-class engineerships by competitive examination and subsequently advanced to assistant engineer-ships without further examination, he will explain why, since these men only qualified by examination for the lower of the two positions, the Department withheld from sub-engineers, who also qualified for second-class engineerships, the rank and status of assistant engineers subsequently granted to their university colleagues?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe examination for appointment as second-class engineer that was passed by the sub-engineers was not of the same character as that prescribed for candidates recruited from outside the Post Office service. It was merely qualifying, and not competitive, and the standard was lower than that applied in the case of outside candidates. For the vacant posts of assistant engineers the best qualified men were chosen.