Mr. PIKE PEASEasked the Chancellor why the salaries of surveyors of Customs and Excise, formerly supervisors of Excise, were not revised on the new scale as from the date of the amalgamation of the services; whether promotion from the second class to first class supervisors was delayed in many instances as a result of the pending amalgamation; how many such surveyors are now in receipt of salaries less than they would have received as first class supervisors of Excise, and to what extent they have already sustained financial loss; and whether he can see his way to revise the reassessment of their salaries on the new scale to meet their claims for fair treatment?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe Customs and Excise services were administratively amalgamated by Order in Council as from 1st April, 1909, but actual amalgamation of the general services was not commenced until 16th August, 1911, from which date the arrangements recommended by the Amalgamation Committee as to the salaries of the new surveyor grade were brought into operation. Up to that date promotions were made on the old lines from second to first-class supervisor of Excise, and the latter part of the question does not, therefore, arise.