§ 80. Lieut.-Colonel Sir RAYMOND GREENEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Civil Service Commissioners to hold any further examinations for ex-service men on the lines of that held last August?
§ Mr. BALDWINIt is not intended to hold a further limited competition for the general clerical class, but competitions on similar lines may be necessary for certain Departmental clerical classes.
§ 81. Sir H. NIELDasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the majority of ex-service, grade 3, temporary clerks who have passed the special clerical class competition, and also had three to five years' temporary clerical service in their Departments, were upon their permanent appointment compelled to start at the bottom of the salary scale, viz., £80 per annum plus bonus, and were then called upon to forfeit their temporary increments, and consequently are considerably worse off financially than the candidate who failed to qualify by examination; and whether, seeing that boy clerks receive the same salary and increments as these men, he will reconsider the position of the latter?
§ Mr. BALDWINThis question was fully considered by the Lytton Committee, who came to the conclusion, in which I concur, that it would not have been equitable to base starting salary on establishment either on the age of candidate or on the length of their temporary service. Boys are not at present being recruited for the clerical class, and, in 3126 any case, a boy would normally enter that class at about the age of 17 with starting pay of £60 plus bonus. This hypothetical comparison was fully considered by the Lytton Committee, and I see no reason to vary their recommendation on account of it.