§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Government adheres to the established practice in regard to filling posts in the permanent Civil Service that in general they should be filled either by the promotion of existing permanent civil servants or by recruitment by open competitive examination; and whether he will state, in relation to the year 1926 or, if that is not convenient, in relation to the year 1925, the number of permanent Civil Service posts not filled by promotion and filled by open competition and by methods other than open competition, giving an indication as to those methods?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe Government adheres to the principle that posts in the established Civil Service should in general be filled either by open competitive examination or by the promotion of an existing established civil servant. But since the War large numbers of appointments have been made in certain grades as a result of limited competitions which have been wholly or mainly confined to ex-service men and ex-service or temporary women staff, and in accordance with the recommendations of the Lytton Committee a general measure of preference has been accorded to ex-service men. The figures asked for in the second part of the question are not immediately available, but I will circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT shortly.