§ Mr. AMMONasked the Minister of Pensions upon what grounds Lieut. -Colonel Sir T. Duncan Rhind, K.B.E., hitherto employed as a temporary official in the Ministry of Pensions, has been established in a permanent post carrying a salary £750 to £850, while established officers of 20 to 30 years' service, who are doing precisely similar work to that required to be done in the post to which Sir T. Duncan Rhind has been appointed, cannot be given substantive appointments because of the large number of redundant officers in the Civil Service for whom places have to be found?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONSir Duncan Rhind's exceptional qualifications as a statistician and organiser justified his selection for the established appointment as head of the Statistical Section of the Ministry of Pensions—a position which he has filled with distinction for over two and a half years. I know of no other officer, either established or temporary, who is doing even approximately similar work, or who could fill the post, and before Sir Duncan Rhind's appointment to the establishment was decided upon the possibility of filling the post from the ranks of existing established officers was carefully considered.