§ Mr. S. MacNEILLasked the Prime Minister whether the body known as the War Cabinet has Secretaries to keep a complete record of all Cabinet decisions; whether these Secretaries are in attendance at Cabinet meetings, and whether the minutes of the proceedings are sent round to each of the five Members after meetings of the War Cabinet for correction; whether, having regard to the fact that it has been before the establishment of this War Cabinet an inflexible rule of the Cabinet that no Member shall take any note or record of proceedings except the Prime Minister for the purpose of sending his letter to the Sovereign, he will state the names of the Secretaries to the Cabinet, their qualifications for the office, their salaries, and the reasons for their admission to meetings of the Cabinet which has hitherto sat in closest secrecy; whether the Secretaries of the Cabinet have a staff to whose members the proceedings and decisions of the War Cabinet are communicated in the ordinary course of business; if so, of how many members does this staff consist and what are the names and the salaries of its members, and their special qualifications for being entrusted with the knowledge of Cabinet proceedings and the record of such proceedings; and, having regard to the fact that the decisions and proceedings of the War Cabinet are known to a number of clerks, why should such knowledge be withheld from Parliament?
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§ Mr. BONAR LAWissued the following particulars:
Name. Appointment. Salary. Remarks. £ Lt.-Col. Sir Maurice Hankey, K.C.B. Secretary 1,500 Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Appointed by the late Prime Minister.
ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF THE COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE—.REAPPOINTED AS ASSISTANT SECRETARIES TO THE WAR CABINET. Lt.-Col. W. Dally Jones Assistant Secretary 800 An Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Appointed by the late Prime Minister on the nomination of the Secretary of State for War. General Staff Officer, 1st Grade. Col. E. D. Swinton, C.B., D.S.O. (Royal Engineers) Assistant Secretary 800 An Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Appointed by the late Prime Minister on the nomination of the Secretary of State for War. General Staff Officer, 1st Grade. Major C. L. Storr Assistant Secretary 650 An Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Appointed by the late Prime Minister on the nomination of the Secretary of State for India. General Staff Officer, 2nd Grade. Mr. Cyril Longhurst Assistant Secretary 650 An additional Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Lt.-Col. Sir Mark Sykes, Bart, M.P. Assistant Secretary — Lent by the General Staff, War Office. Receives pay from Army funds.
ASSISTANT SECRETARIES APPOINTED SUBSEQUENT TO THE FORMATION OF THE WAR CABINET. Mr. G. M. Young Assistant Secretary 1,000 Head of Civil Branch of the Secretariat; formerly Secretary to the Office of the Labour Adviser. Appointed by the War Cabinet. Mr. T. Jones Assistant Secretary 975 Appointed by the War Cabinet, being seconded from the National Health Insurance Commission, from which he receives his ordinary salary. Fleet Paymaster P. Row. R.N. Assistant Secretary 800 Appointed by the Prime Minister on the nomination of the First Lord of the Admiralty. Capt. Clement Jones Assistant Secretary 650 Appointed by the War Cabinet; previously Secretary to Lord Curzon's Shipping Control Committee. Capt. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P. Assistant Secretary — Appointed by the War Cabinet. Question of salary unsettled.