§ Mr. PERCY HARRIS (Harborough Division)asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that in Customs and Excise collectors' offices surveyors trained entirely in the outdoor branch of the Customs and Excise work are employed on indoor duties of which they have little knowledge; that they have taken the place of, and are put in authority over, principal clerks who qualified for their promotion to the supervising grade by passing a departmental examination sixteen years ago, and who have efficiently performed all the higher duties of the office for upwards of twelve years; that the appointment of outdoor surveyors to collectors' offices necessitates the employment of principal clerks on inferior work, though they are entitled to higher grade salaries, and that a saving of more than £250 per annum would be effected in each office by the return of surveyors to the outdoor branch and the restoration of principal clerks to the surveying grade; and whether, in view of the need for economy in all public departments, he will cause the surveyors to be returned to the outdoor branch, in which there is a demand for experienced men, and will utilise the training and experience of the reduced principal clerks by restoring them to the surveyor grade in collectors' offices?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe class of former Excise principal clerk second class (£280–320) referred to in this question were definitely assigned by the Amalgamation Committee in 1911 to the new officer grade (£80–300) in the amalgamated Customs and Excise service, and as a concession were allowed to rise to a special maximum of £400. Appointments to the surveyor grade (£320–450) in the amalgamated service, including both outdoor and indoor posts, are made by competitive examinations at which these former principal clerks in common with other officers422W are eligible to compete. The points raised in the question were carefully considered by the Committee of 1911, and the suggestion that the clerks in question should be excused from examination for promotion would not only be contrary to the amalgamation settlement, but would also be unfair to the rest of the officer class who are entitled to compete for the higher posts.