HC Deb 03 March 1926 vol 192 c1450W
Miss WILKINSON

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the qualifications laid down for dictators employed in shorthand examinations for appointment to the established Civil Service; whether these were observed in the recent shorthand test held under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners, when a clerk in holy orders was employed for this purpose; and whether dictators in shorthand tests in establishment examinations, held under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners, are required to have experience as dictators of shorthand?

Mr. RONALD McNEILL

The qualifications the Civil Service Commissioners look for in a dictator in shorthand examinations are a good voice, ability to deliver passages accurately and at the prescribed speed, and speech appropriate to the particular centre at which he is to act. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative, and as regards the concluding portion, I am informed that the Commissioners have not found it necessary to require that dictators employed in their shorthand examinations should necessarily have had other experience as dictators of shorthand.