§ Captain BOWYERasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether an examination for appointment of male 1901W clerks in the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labour was held in December, 1919; whether there was an age limit for competitors; whether the examination was held under the reconstruction scheme which superseded pre-War arrangements for such appointments; whether there were 500 vacancies; if so, were successful candidates at various examinations held in 1913 and 1914 under the auspices of the Board of Trade for the staffing of Departments in connection with Health and Unemployent Insurance, and whose appointments were not effected owing to the War, given consideration; whether applications for consideration for certain of such candidates on return from the War have been refused on the grounds of non-compliance in respect of age; and whether he is prepared to give an assurance that au appointment to establishment will be given to such candidates?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAI have been asked to reply. An examination for the appointment of male clerks in the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labour was held in December, 1919; the age limits for competitors were 19 and 24 and the examination was held under the reconstruction scheme, and so was limited to ex-service men Five hundred vacancies in Great Britain were announced by the Civil Service Commissioners Candidates who had already satisfied the Commissioners in 1913 or 1914 as to their qualifications under the scheme of recruitment by interview and examination, formerly in force for the Employment Department, were not debarred from sitting for the December, 1919, examination if they were otherwise eligible under the Regulations laid down for this examination. All the ex-service candidates referred to above had an opportunity of entering for one of the periodic examinations for the Treasury clerical class recently held by the Civil Service Commissioners, provided that they had served in a Government Department in a temporary capacity and that their combined service in a Government Department and in His Majesty's Forces totalled one year. No upper age limit was fixed in connection with these examinations. I would point out to my hon. and gallant Friend that, although these men were classified as suitable for appointment in 1913 and 1914, no guarantee of appointment was given to1902W them. Their names were simply placed on a waiting list from which vacancies could he filled as they arose. As a matter of fact, the number of vacancies which had arisen was insufficient to cover all the qualified candidates mentioned above at the time when recruitment was suspended at the outbreak of war, and the scheme of recruitment under which these men qualified is no longer in force.