§ Mr. SNELLasked the Postmaster-General the amount of overtime worked by the clerical grades of his Department during the past three months; whether any steps have been taken to reduce such overtime and, if so, the nature of the steps taken; and whether it has been found possible, by curtailing overtime, to absorb temporary clerks declared redundant in other Government Departments?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL - THOMSONFigures as regards the provinces are not948W available. The figure for London is 79,813 hours, of which 41,187 were of a non-recurrent nature in the Savings Bank in connection with the Post Office issue of 4 Per Cent. Consolidated Loan. 25,932 hours were worked in the Money Order Department, where an increase of staff has now been sanctioned. A certain amount of the remainder in other Departments is accounted for by Christmas pressure and temporary delay in filling vacancies. In general, the causes and circumstances of the overtime were for the most part not such as to justify the absorption of temporary clerks declared redundant in other Government Departments; and, in fact, the question of discharging a number of temporary clerks from the Post Office itself is at present engaging attention.