§ Mr. SNOWDENasked the President of the Board of Education if he will say how many names of members of the clerical staff of his Department were submitted to him for consideration when the three recent appointments to junior examiner-ships were made; how many of these officers were in receipt of salaries in excess of the minimum salary of a junior examiner; and whether no one of the hundreds of clerks in his Department in receipt of salaries less than £250 is considered capable of performing the duties of junior examiner?
Mr. PEASEOn the occasion to which the hon. Member refers no special recommendations were made to me, but I considered the desirability of promoting a member of the clerical staff. I shall promote one member of the clerical staff when I can do so without inflicting on him a heavy loss of salary, and I am considering the promotion of another. There are 103 clerks whose salaries exceed the minimum salary of a junior examiner. I do not say that no one clerk, receiving a less salary than £250, may not be capable of performing the duties of a junior examiner. In the interests of the public service I shall continue to appoint the best men I can find, and I shall have regard not only to the immediate duties performed by junior examiners, but to the necessity of recruiting men who are most likely to become capable of doing still higher work.