§ 16. Mr. MARDY JONESasked the President of the Board of Trade how many bankruptcy offices in England and Wales are classified as salaried offices; what is the number of salaried officers employed at these salaried offices; how many of the staff are classed as temporary employees who are doing identical work at lower wages as the scheme employees; what is the number of non-salaried offices; what is the number of salaried officers employed there; what is the number of temporary employees employed thereat; can he state what is the number of temporary employees who have had continuous service in one or more bankruptcy offices for the last 20 years or more; and what are the obstacles to the promotion of these long-service employees to inclusion in the salaried category?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMThe answer is a long one, and with my hon. Friend's permission I will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. JONESWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the fairness of placing all the non-salaried officers of many years service on the established staff, or set up a committee to investigate their claims?
§ Mr. GRAHAMI think my hon. Friend will find an answer in the detailed reply I have given.
§ Mr. JONESIf I bring any cases of exceptional hardship to the personal notice of the right hon. Gentleman, will he consider them?
§ Mr. GRAHAMCertainly.
§ Following is the answer:
§ Twenty bankruptcy offices in England and Wales are classified as salaried offices. The number of officers (exclusive of messengers, paper-keepers, etc.) employed in these offices is 257. Of these 257 officers 206 are permanent (195 established and 11 unestablished) and are on the scales of pay of the permanent pensionable posts. The remaining 51 are on general Civil Service scales of pay appropriate to their present gradings, and these scales fall within the scales of pay of permanent staff engaged on similar work. The total of 51 persons is made up of 10 temporary employés occupying posts in typing grades which will be filled as soon as practicable by women who qualify for permanent appointments at the usual competitions; 16 ex-service men who have failed to qualify for pensionable posts but have been assured of permanent employment ("P" Clerks); and 25 men and women who fill temporary posts in a "fringe" which is maintained to facilitate adjustments of staff to fluctuations in the volume of work. No member of the temporary staff employed in these offices has had continuous service in a Bankruptcy office for the last 20 years or more.
§ The non-salaried Bankruptcy offices number 30. No salaried officer of the Board of Trade is employed in any of them. Non-salaried Official Receivers m Bankruptcy are normally Solicitors in private practice, and they are remunerated for their bankruptcy work by fees in accordance with a fixed scale. They are required, by the terms of their appointment, to provide, at their own expense, such staffs as they may need for the proper performance of that work. These staffs are thus in private employment, and the question of their appointment to salaried posts under the Board of Trade does not arise.