§ Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Air on what date the maximum salary for drawing office staff in the Air Ministry directorate of works was raised from £350 to £450 per annum; whether any members of the staff recruited prior to that date are still on the old rate; what complaints have been received on this score; and whether it is proposed that a promotion board should sit to consider the complaints and when?
§ Sir K. WoodThere are three subordinate grades in the drawing office of the directorate of works whose maximum salaries were raised at the end of 1936 from £277, £373 and £515 per annum respectively to £320, £420 and £550. There has at no time been a maximum salary of either £350 or £450 for this staff, but a number of officers were engaged on temporary appointments at fixed rates within this range in the circumstances described in my reply to the hon. and gallant Member of the 13th February last. The promotion of officers with graded scales depends on the existence of vacancies in the grade above and the fitness of individuals for promotion. The promotions from Grade III to Grade II to which I referred in my reply of the 13th February have now been made.
§ Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Air on what grounds qualified architects who are Grade II or III Assistants in the Air Ministry Directorate of Works, are graded as sergeants if detailed for service abroad; and what representations concerning 238W this have been received from professional bodies concerned?
§ Sir K. WoodNo instructions have been issued for Grade II or Grade III Architectural Assistants in the Directorate of Works to be graded as sergeants if detailed for service abroad. I am unable to trace any representations on this matter from professional bodies.