49. Miss Cazaletasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any women in the Inspector of Taxes Department are being retained on a permanent basis after marriage?
§ Sir K. WoodThere are at present no women retained after marriage in an established capacity as Inspectors of Taxes in the Inland Revenue Department. I should add that if a woman Inspector of Taxes marries and it is not thought that she should be retained as a permanent established Civil servant, she is, in present circumstances, invited to stay in the Department in a temporary capacity.
Miss CazaletConsidering the enormous cost of training these women for these important jobs, is it not a great waste of public money, as well as being very unfair and old-fashioned, not to retain them on a permanent basis after marriage?
§ Sir K. WoodIt has been agreed with the Staff side of the National Whitley Council that a married woman can be retained in an established capacity where the head of her Department and the Treasury are satisfied that this is advisable in the light of her special qualifications or special experience in relation to the duties required of her or of the special requirements of the Department in which she is serving.
Miss CazaletIs my right hon. Friend aware that some of these women, when they have been obliged to leave their Department because of marriage, have obtained big jobs and drawn higher rates of pay outside than when they were in the Government service?