Mr. T. WILSONasked the Postmaster General (1) whether seeing that Post Office engineers are not giving to the public efficient service owing to the impossibility of retaining qualified draughtsmen at the rate of pay and prospects offered by the Department, he will state what steps he proposes to take to remedy this state of affairs;
(2) whether a large number of the draughtsmen in the Engineering Department of the Post Office are leaving the Department's service owing to the inadequacy of the pay and prospects offered and many of those remaining are contemplating taking the same steps?
§ Mr. PEASEThe pay and conditions of service of draughtsmen in the Engineering Department of the Post Office are under consideration in connection with representations from the Society of Post Office Engineering Draughtsmen, and a deputation from the society was received on Friday last. There have been twenty-one resignations of draughtsmen during the past eighteen months out of a total staff of 260.