§ Mr. ALDENasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, seeing that apparently there is no possible chance for promotion for the senior men of the abstractor class in the Statistical Department of His Majesty's Customs and Excise, some of whom have now been seven or eight years on the maximum salary of their class, he can see his way to assigning them the £10 increment allowed under G.O. 5/1909?
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§ Mr. MASTERMANThis special increment of £10 is granted, in a limited number of cases only, to assistant clerks who have been for not less than five years at the maximum of their scale, and is intended as a reward for special merit only. It is not given automatically to clerks who have served the prescribed period. A special increment has, in fact, been awarded to several clerks serving in the Department to which the hon. Member refers.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction at present prevailing among Excise officers on account of the interpretation put by the Treasury on paragraph 169 of the Report of the Hob-house Committee of Inquiry regarding retrospective remuneration; and whether he is now prepared to modify the interpretation of the Treasury?
§ Mr. MASTERMANI can find no ground for the suggestion that the recommendation of the Committee on this matter has not been carried out, and it does not appear that any action by the Treasury is called for.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Secretary to the Treasury the number of second-class examining officers of Customs who had exhausted their chances of promotion at the time of the issue of the Report of the Hobhouse Committee of Inquiry, the nature of their duties, and the maximum salary which these officers may reach; whether he can also state the number of senior first-class officers of Excise who had exhausted their chances of promotion at the same time, namely, at the issue of the said Report, the nature of their duties, and the maximum salary to which they may attain?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe maximum salary of officers who had exhausted their chances of promotion is £300, both for those who were previously second-class examining officers of Customs and those who were previously first-class officers of Excise. The number of these officers cannot yet be stated, nor is it possible within the compass of an answer to describe the nature of their duties, which include the assessment of revenue, the control and account of dutiable goods, and the performance of a variety of non-revenue work under various Acts of Parliament.
§ Mr. SCANLANasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the responsibility 1194W thrown upon senior first-class officers of Excise is greater than that thrown upon second-class examining officers of Customs, although a portion of the duties performed by each grade is somewhat analogous; how is it that the maximum salary of the Customs official is higher than that enjoyed by the senior first-class officer of Excise; and whether he is now prepared to remove this grievance of Excise officers?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. The two sets of officers referred to are now included in one class, namely, officers of Customs and Excise, and consequently have the same maximum salary.