§ Miss WILKINSONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the officers of the Civil Service who are mainly responsible for the dictation of shorthand have pronounced local dialects; whether speech appropriate to the district in which an examination is held is one of the main qualifications for examiners in shorthand under the Civil Service Commissioners; whether the Civil Service Commissioners have received complaints from candidates from time to time as to the excessive speed at which part of the shorthand dictation is given, the examiners having had to slow down during the latter part of the test in order to fill up the time allotted; and whether, under these circumstances, the Civil Service Commissioners will go into the question of appointing fully-qualified dictators of shorthand, such as are used in the Society of Arts' examinations for the purpose of shorthand typist examinations in the Civil Service?
§ Mr. McNEILLI would refer the hon. Member as regards the first two parts of her question to the reply which I gave her on the 3rd March. As regards the third part, on the rare occasions when the Commissioners have found that a shorthand dictator has failed to maintain the proper speed, they have taken account of the fact, in settling the marks of the examination. The Commissioners' constant endeavour is so to improve their machinery as to avoid any just cause for complaint and they 1677W are always ready to consider applications from persons prepared to undertake occasional work for them in shorthand or in any other subject and to add to their panel the names of any applicants whom they consider suitable.