§ Mr. REMER asked the Minister of Transport whether his Department receives assistance in its work of compiling statistics from 200 clerks in the Railway Clearing House; whether these clerks are Government servants or in the employment of the railway companies; and, in either case, how the payment of their salaries and expenses is made?
§ Sir E. GEDDES: The railways do this work with Railway Clearing House staff which the secretary has certified to me would otherwise be redundant, and he tells me that they are not the most appropriate to this work. I do not know the numbers employed. They are not the staff; nor have they the mechanical aids to their work which could be employed under other circumstances; but if these men were not employed compensation would have to be paid. They are paid by the companies, as is clearly explained in paragraph 23 of the Report of the Select Committee on National Expenditure.