§ Mrs. WINTRINGHAMasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he 3202W is aware that, under the Lytton Report for the employment of ex-service men in the Civil Service, fit home-service men are being substituted for women temporary clerks who served in Government Departments during the War and who were thereby precluded from volunteering for war service; and whether, in the interests of economy in the Civil Service, the Government will consider the discretion of not permitting further substitution in Departments like the taxes branch of the Inland Revenue, where the replacement of experienced technical women clerks by men not so qualified is likely to impede the efficiency of the Department?
§ Mr. BALDWINIt is the accepted policy of His Majesty's Government to accord preference in the matter of employment in the Civil Service to ex-service men. At the present time the number of men who served overseas or who are disabled is normally more than sufficient to fill such vacancies as exist or can be effected by substitution. Where this is not the case, ex-service men who were not sent overseas are accorded preference over temporary women clerks taken on during the War. The question of the further substitution of temporary women clerks by ex-service men in the Department of Inland Revenue is at present under consideration, and in arriving at a decision full regard will be had to the need for the maintenance, of the, efficiency of the Department.