56. Mr. T. THOMSONasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the 26 and 3,534 posts in the Treasury grade of the executive are reserved, respectively, for women and for men, or, if not, in which departments women would in the ordinary course be considered for a vacancy in a post now filled by a man; and whether, in view of the fact that there are less than three times as many clerical men as clerical women, he will revise the distribution of posts so as to give the clerical women the same opportunities of entering the executive grade as men?
Mr. GUINNESSI would remind the hon. Member that the figures which he quotes are the numbers of men and women on the scales of salary prescribed for the Training Grade of the Executive Class, not the number of posts in that grade. The number of men includes the redundant officers awaiting absorption, and temporarily filling clerical class posts. Speaking generally, posts in the Training Grade are not reserved specifically either to men or to women, and there is, therefore, no such distribution of posts as the hon. Member suggests. As I explained to him on the 9th March, women already have opportunities of entering this class which are not less favourable than those enjoyed by men in comparison.