HC Deb 31 March 1920 vol 127 cc1270-1W
Mr. T. WILSON

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he has received a communication on behalf of certain civil servants transferred from the Board of Education to the Imperial College of Science, who were personally assured that they would not suffer by being transferred and that Article VII. of the Charter gave them security of continuity of service under the same conditions as they would have enjoyed had they not been so transferred; and, should this clause in the Charter have failed in its purpose to afford these men the promised protection, will he take the necessary action to fulfil the promise made to these men at the time of their transfer by the Board of Education?

Mr. FISHER

I have received a communication on this matter. The relevant portion of Article VII. of the Charter of Incorporation of the Imperial College is as follows:—Subject to the provisions of this Our Charter the Governing Body shall appoint all Professors and other members of the Teaching Staff of the Royal College of' Science or of the Royal School of Mines and all other persons who are at the date of this Our Charter in any office or employment in or in connection with those institutions or either of them to as nearly as practicable the same offices or employment in or in connection with the Imperial College upon as nearly as may be the same terms and conditions and the persons so appointed shall continue in such office or employment unless and until the Governing Body otherwise decide.

I have no authority to interpret the Charter, but I do not think that these provisions can be held to imply that the persons concerned are entitled to receive the same remuneration as they might have received if they had remained in the service of the Board and if the scale of remuneration of their grades had been improved. I would remind the hon. Member that the men concerned were granted pensions or gratuities under the Civil Service Superannuation Acts on the abolition of their offices when they were transferred from the service of the Board to that of the Imperial College.