§ 45, 46 and 47. Captain LOSEBYasked the Prime Minister (1) if he is aware that competent ex-service men temporarily employed in the Civil Service are being daily discharged; that generally speaking ex-service men are employed in the lower grades in a temporary capacity only; that high positions are in many cases occupied by young men who avoided service; if he will consider the advisability of ordering a searching inquiry into the whole personnel of the Civil Service;
(2) if he has considered the advisability of discontinuing the competitive examination for the permanent Civil Service until such time as all completely competent ex-service men temporarily employed have been absorbed; 2565 (3) if it is his intention to set up substitution committees entrusted with the task of advising on the best methods of substituting ex-service men for others with less claims upon the State throughout the Civil Service, and to give the names of the Departments in which these committees have been set up?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Baldwin)Returns taken for 1st May, 1920, show that out of a total of 122,589 ex-service men then employed in Government offices more than 80,300 were employed in a permanent capacity. So far as is consistent with economy and efficiency in their staffing arrangements, the various Government Departments are doing all they can to retain the ex-service men who hold temporary appointments. As the hon. and gallant Member is already aware, a Committee is being set up to consider what modifications, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements for the employment of ex-service men in Government Departments, and that Committee will also consider the question of the conditions under which ex-service men should be given permanent posts in the Civil Service.