§ Miss LAWRENCEasked the Postmaster-General the grounds upon which his Department has recently recruited 2418W a large number of girls straight from school for clerical class posts in the London area, thus blocking the promotion of the several hundred writing assistants and members of the typing grades who have been classified by his Department as suitable for early promotion to the clerical class; whether he is aware that among these open recruits are a certain number of very junior writing assistants who, by reason of their length of service or low standard of efficiency, have not been classified as suitable for direction promotion; and whether he will consider the grant of preference of appointment to the clerical class to those writing assistants and typists who, as stated, are fitted to perform the work?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL -THOMSONWriting assistants and typists with the necessary qualifications are given a substantial avenue of promotion to the clerical class; but the existence of this avenue cannot be allowed to interfere with the recruitment of the bulk of the clerical class by the normal method of open competition. The fact that certain writing assistants and typists have been successful in the competition does not, in my opinion, give any cause for complaint to their senior colleagues who have not been successful.