§ 60 and 87. Mr. C. DUNCANasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he will state the reasons for acceding to the request of the postal associations for arbitration upon their claim for a war bonus, and for referring the similar claim of the Civil Service Federation, in spite of their request for arbitration, to the Committee on Public Retrenchment; and (2), whether it is the intention to apply the recent award of the arbitrator on the postal servants' claim for a war bonus to Civil servants generally, in view of the fact that classes common to the Civil Service but actually employed in the Post Office have been paid the war bonus under that award; and, if not, will he indicate in what respects the conditions at present prevailing warrant any differentiation in treatment between Civil servants in the Post Office and those in other Departments?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe arbitrator on the postal servants' application for a war bonus, in giving his award, stated that he had had regard particularly to the fact that the scales of remuneration of Post Office employés are based on two principal factors, namely, the volume of work done and the cost of living. This statement appears to have arisen from a misapprehension of a paragraph in the Hobhouse Committee's Report. It is clearly inconsistent with the statement in paras. 14–17 of the Holt Committee's Report, and it cannot be accepted by His Majesty's Government as representing the main principle on which the remuneration of public servants should be fixed. As the postal employés' application had been submitted to arbitration, the Government was bound to comply with the award, irrespective of the grounds on which it was based; but having regard to the fact that these grounds could not be accepted as accurate, they decided to refer to the Committee on Public Retrenchment the question of an extension of the award to other Departments. That Committee considered the matter very carefully and recommended that, in view of the fact that the reasons 1797 given in the award have no general application to the Civil Service, all applications from other Departments should be considered on their merits irrespective of that award.
Mr. TYSON WILSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that certain Departments of the service were told that the increase of rates would be governed by the award made?
§ Mr. McKENNACan my hon. Friend say by whom they were told?
§ Mr. McKENNANot that I am aware of.