§ 73. Mr. Gammansasked the Secretary to the Treasury for what reason temporary clerks in the Civil Service under the age of 45 cannot be established; and to what extent temporary civil servants under this age can look forward to establishment on reaching the age of 45.
§ Mr. JayI would refer the hon. Memmer to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Hopkinson) on 9th May. I regret that I cannot forecast whether there will be further establishment of temporary clerks over 45 as clerical assistants.
§ 74. Mr. Gammansasked the Secretary to the Treasury for an estimate of the number of persons who would be involved if the age at which temporary clerks in the Civil Service can be established were reduced from 45 years of age to 40 and 35, respectively.
§ Mr. JayI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the current scheme for establishing temporary clerks as clerical assistants. When this scheme was devised in 1949 it was estimated that there were then some 10,000 temporary clerks between the ages of 35 and 44. No later estimate has been made. Neither was it known in 1949 how many of the 10,000 73W would have satisfied all the conditions of the scheme if temporary clerks under the age of 45 had been admitted.