§ Mr. BAKERasked the Postmaster General whether his attention has been called to the conditions under which sub-office assistants are employed; whether he is aware that his predecessors, whilst denying liability and responsibility for the wages and conditions of such assistants, have insisted on a yearly return from each sub-office showing the wages paid and hours of work; whether he is aware that it was announced in the Post Office Circular of the 13th February, 1924, that in future the particulars of persons employed will be called for only once in five years; and, if that decision was come to without his knowledge, whether he will consider the desirability of instituting a closer supervision over the wages and conditions in sub-post offices?
§ Mr. HARTSHORNThe hon. Member's question is, I think, based on a misunderstanding of the announcement to which he refers. No change is contemplated in the arrangement under which the particulars in question are obtained yearly, but the same form will be used for five successive years.