§ Mr. DUNCANasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that messengers at the Horse Guards are being required to perform duties which are usually carried out by house porters, namely, the unloading of firewood; whether there is any shortage of house porters; and whether steps can be taken to keep the messengers to their own specific work in the future?
§ Mr. COOPERSome messengers at the Horse Guards are required to assist in the unloading of firewood which is delivered once or twice a month in quantities of ½ ton or I ton at a time. Such unloading is not considered to be work outside the scope of a messenger's duties. The amount of work involved is not sufficient to justify the employment of a porter for this specific purpose.
§ Mr. DUNCANasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that the messengers employed at the Horse Guards work a 24 hours' duty on Sundays for which no extra payment is made; whether he is aware that the overtime agreement for messengers is not being applied in the case of those men; and whether he will take steps to see that they are paid at 1963W the time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked on Sundays or, as an alternative, give them half a day's pay extra with a day off in lieu?
§ Mr. COOPERAs regards the first part of the question, a messenger is in attendance and available if required for the whole of Sunday. Under the present arrangement, which was the choice of the staff, one individual in rotation is allowed to take the whole 24 hours' attendance from Sunday morning to Monday morning, and is then released from further duty until the following Thursday morning. All overtime worked is paid for at the rates specified in the agreement dated 23rd December, 1924, but the hours in question are not overtime within the terms of Agreement No. 81 of the Civil Service Arbitration Board dated 20th September, 1920, and cannot be paid for at other than normal rates.