§ 32. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Postmaster-General why an order has recently been issued preventing the transfer of Post Office workers to other branches of the Civil Service when jobs are offered to them.
Mr. ShortI know of no such order, but the Conservative Government decided that there should normally be no movement permitted between the Post Office grade of postal and telegraph officer and the general service grade of clerical officer, whether on transfer or by competition.
§ Mr. LewisBut is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this order is apparently being implemented very strongly at the moment? Since he is very anxious to take every opportunity to bring private people into Post Office employment, does not he think that he should make the same opportunity available to people within the Post Office to go into private industry or another department within the Civil Service and to allow them to transfer their pension in the interests of the mobility of labour? At present they are not allowed to take their pension rights with them. This seems to be unfair.
Mr. ShortI agree that the problem of the transferability of pension rights has to be faced in the very near future. Job transfer is permitted in other grades in the Post Office. Only in this grade is it not permitted. It is because there is a shortage here. When we train people for this grade, we feel that we should be able to retain them.