HC Deb 17 June 1920 vol 130 cc1469-70W
Viscount CURZON

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what permanent positions in the Government service are open to ex-officers and soldiers between 27 and 30 years of age, of good secondary education, who relinquished their civilian jobs in 1914 to join His Majesty's Forces and who, owing to age, are now unable to secure re-employment in commercial life?

Mr. BALDWIN

The permanent appointments in the Civil Service which remain to be filled exclusively by ex-service men of about the age in question under the reconstruction system of appointment are stated below. I am sending the hon. and gallant Member copies of the respective Regulations, which indicate the standard of education for each class of appointment.

Class I group (Home Civil Service, Eastern Cadetships, Indian Civil Service).

Foreign Office Clerkships and Diplomatic Service.

General Consular Service.

In addition, large numbers of ex-service men are at present temporarily employed in Government Departments, and special opportunities are being given to such men to compete for permanent vacancies.

I trust that other employers will realise their obligations to men who left civil employment in 1914, as it is impossible for the Government, with its relatively small number of vacancies, to absorb more than a portion of the ex-service men in the country.