§ Mr. CRAVEN-ELLISasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of grades into which the entire staff of civil servants are divided; the number of days' holiday with full pay which are given per annum to those engaged in the respective grades; what is the largest number of civil servants on holiday at any one time during the year; and is a temporary staff engaged to do the work of those on holiday and, if so, are they paid the standard rate of pay?
§ Major ELLIOTThe information desired by my hon. Friend in the first three parts of his question is not available in the Treasury and could only be obtained by means of a special return, the preparation of which would involve a disproportionate expenditure of time and labour. Information on the subject is contained in Chapter XV of the Report of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service (Command Paper No. 3909) to which I may perhaps refer my hon. Friend. With regard to the last part of the question the normal arrangement is that no leave substitutes are engaged. It is however, impossible to arrange for the performance of certain types of work, such as, e.g., postal or telephone traffic, without the provision of leave substitutes. Special inclusive rates of pay are normally prescribed for such temporary or casual employees.