§ 75. Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the Secretary of State for War whether the position of the clerical staffs of the outstations of the War Department has been brought to his notice; whether he is aware that, although five years have elapsed since the Reorganisation Committee Report recommended that clerical pay should rise to a maximum of £250 a year, not 5 per cent. of the clerical employés in the out-stations have been put on a scale rising to £250; whether anything has been done towards the reorganisation of the out-stations, as recommended by the Reorganisation Committee Report; and whether steps will be taken to improve the opsition of these employés in accordance with the terms of the Report?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Captain Douglas King)The hon. Member is mistaken in thinking that the Re-organisation Committee recommended that all clerical work in outstation offices should be paid on a scale rising to £250, which with Civil Service bonus amounts to £369 a year. The bulk of the work at out-station offices is of a routine nature, and I am not prepared to agree that pay up to £7 a week is warranted for any considerable proportion of the staff. I explained the scheme of re-organisation which is being applied to these offices in my answer on the 8th December last to a question by the hon. Member for Limehouse.