Lieut.-Colonel WARDasked the Postmaster-General whether in 1907 a Select Committee drew attention to the number of grades and classes into which the Post Office staff was divided; and whether he will appoint a committee to investigate the internal organisation of the Post Office with a view of eliminating unnecessary classifications of officers and securing efficiency by ensuring that the existing want of co-ordination between the postal telegraph and telephone systems should be modified, and matters of public utility receive sympathetic consideration?
§ Mr. PEASESince 1907 many important changes have been made with a view to reducing the number of separate grades and classes, and improving the co-ordination between the different services. I do not think that there is now any necessity for the suggested investigation, which would moreover overlap to some extent the proposed inquiry by a Select Committee into the organisation and administration of the telephone service.