§ 19. Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been drawn to the application of Mr. Rowlands, of Anstruther, Fife, for re-employment in the Post Office; whether he is aware that this man was in the service until he enlisted during the War; that he has been kept on a waiting list for the past three years and that when be applied he was 37 years of age; that he was asked to supply references and give detailed particulars and, after exhaustive inquiries were made, was asked to produce his birth certificate, which shows him now to be over 40 years of age, and is now declared ineligible on age grounds for employment; and whether he can take steps to see that applicants for employment are not in future put to hardship, trouble and delay of this nature?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI am aware of the case referred to by the hon. Member. There is no record that Mr. Rowlands served in the Post Office prior to his enlistment, and, if he was so employed, it must have been a temporary engagement which would give him no claim to further employment. Ex-service candidates for Post Office employment are recruited through the Employment Exchanges, who put forward applicants in a recognised order of priority. Mr. Rowlands has at no time been put forward for Post Office employment, but certain inquiries were made regarding his case, following complaints sent by him direct to the Post Office. In the course of these inquiries, discrepancies as regards his age were observed; and it was deemed advisable to see his birth certificate, which showed him to be ineligible by age for a permanent appointment.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONDoes the right hon. Gentleman seriously justify asking a man for his birth certificate three years after he made his application, when it is discovered that he is now over age?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI have pointed out in my answer that in any case his application was not properly made, and should not have been considered.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONWould the right hon. Gentleman mind answering my question? Does he seriously justify asking for a man's birth certificate, not at the time of his application, but three years afterwards, when he has been found to be too old for employment?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONCertainly; the age which is taken into consideration is the age at which the man is taken into the Service.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONWould the right hon. Gentleman oblige me by answering my question? Does he justify asking for a birth certificate, not at the date of the application, but three years afterwards?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONIt is not necessary for me to justify it. I have already said that the application was not properly made.