§ Mr. DUNCANasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware of the discontent amongst the messengers employed at His Majesty's Land Registry; whether he is aware that 1618W arbitration on a wages claim for these men has been refused by that Department and His Majesty's Treasury, and that this is contrary to the terms of the arbitration agreement for the Civil Service; what steps he proposes to take to ensure that the arbitration agreement is carried out and that the claim of the messengers is allowed to go to arbitration; and why no reply to letters dealing with this matter has been sent by His Majesty's Treasury to the union officially acting on behalf of these employés?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe refusal to proceed to arbitration on the claim to which the hon. Member refers was based on the ground that the messengers covered by the claim are not a class within the meaning of the Arbitration Agreement, and are not, therefore, entitled to proceed to arbitration separately from, the general class of which they form part. With regard to the last part of the question, it was thought desirable to defer the reply to the further representations made on the subject, in view of the decision of the Staff Side of the National Whitley Council, on which body the Messenger Class is represented, to raise the question of the application of the Arbitration Agreement as a general issue.