§ 62. Mr. Loganasked the Minister of Health whether, after reading the evidence of Mrs. Devlin, at Liverpool Assizes, he is prepared to reinstate her; if not, is he prepared to recommend compensation for loss of office in addition to her retiring pension?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health (Mr. Bernays)The question of reinstatement is one for the Liverpool Corporation themselves. In the circumstances obtaining in the present case there is no power to pay compensation for loss of office.
§ Mr. LoganIn view of the correspondence that I have sent to the Department, is this not a case where the Department ought to enter into consideration of the case of an official who was discharged without substantiation of the charge?
§ Mr. BernaysWe have no authority to interfere.
§ 63. Mr. Loganasked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been drawn to the account of the slander action at Liverpool assizes last week; has he read the strictures of Mr. Justice Stable, who said that the proceedings of the subcommittee, as disclosed in the shorthand notes, were a travesty of justice; and does he intend to ask the Liverpool City Council to remove the chairman and other members from this sub-committee or what action does he intend to take?
§ Mr. BernaysMy right hon. Friend has seen an account of this case in the Press. He has no power to take any action in the matter.
§ Mr. LoganDo we understand that no matter what goes on, corruptly or otherwise, in any council, or any defects in regard to an official who has had over 20 years' service and is unjustly discharged, and when a judge presiding in court makes the statement that he did make, the Department have no right of intervention?
§ Mr. BernaysNo, Sir, but there is, I understand, no question of corruption in this case at all; as a result of the judicial proceedings, that was made quite plain.
§ Mr. LoganIs the hon. Gentleman not aware, from the correspondence that 1 have sent to the Department in regard to this case, of the strictures of the Judge, who distinctly said that it was an absurdity and a travesty of justice? What more do you want than a Judge in court making a statement like that? I want to know, in regard to a poor woman being discharged, what you intend to do to remedy the injustice that has been done to her.
§ Mr. BernaysIt is entirely a question for the local authority. As I understand it, this woman was discharged on the ground that through her health she was no longer fitted for her job, and as far as my right hon. Friend is concerned, there the matter ends.
§ Mr. LoganBut you know that that statement is not correct and that the two doctors' certificates did not bear out that statement.