§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for how long it is proposed to continue the system of making appointments to the surveying grade without regard to the prospects of officers before the amalgamation of the Customs and Excise services; and (2) whether regard has been had to the fact that the officers of Excise origin are nearly double the number of officers of Customs origin in making promotions to surveyorships since the amalgamation; and will directions be given that regard be had, in future promotions, to the relative proportions, or normal expectations, under pre-amalgamation conditions?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI will answer these two questions together. Appoint-2266W ments to the new surveying grade have followed and will follow the course indicated by the Amalgamation Committee. The former prospects of officers in the separate services were taken into consideration by the Amalgamation Committee in framing the scheme of amalgamation.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can say how many of the 104 officers of Customs origin who have taken promotion to which officers of Excise origin were looking forward would have been promoted according to a reasonable estimate in the last nine months if there had been no amalgamation?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI hope the hon. Member will excuse me from speculations as to what might or might not have happened if there had been no amalgamation. I must, however, point out that the posts of surveyor in the new amalgamated service (Scale £320-450), to which officers of Customs origin have been promoted could not have been looked forward to by officers of Excise origin before amalgamation. They do not correspond either in numbers or salary to the Customs surveyorships rising from £350 or the Excise assistant supervisorships at £280 fixed, to which the officers of the respective services would formerly have looked for promotion.
§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any of the officers of Customs origin, promoted since the amalgamation, have asked to go back, and have gone back, to their former duties; whether any have expressed a desire to go back and have been asked to continue in their present positions: and whether he has considered the risk of possible loss to revenue through the appointment to surveyorships of officers of Customs origin lacking in experience of Excise work?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe answer to the first part of the question is, four; to the second, none; and to the third, that the question of the appointments referred to was carefully considered in all its bearings.