§ 13. Lieut.-Colonel Acland-Troyteasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the number of civil servants of military age exempted from 316W service on grounds of conscientious objection; the number placed on work of national importance, and on what basis of pay; the number who have been allowed to resume their ordinary departmental duty; and the number of conscientious objectors of this, or the 1914–18 Great War, who have been promoted since the 3rd September, 1939?
§ Captain CrookshankUp to 6th June, 619 civil servants had appeared before tribunals as conscientious objectors under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act. Of these, 39 were allowed unconditionally to register as conscientious objectors, 30 were directed to undertake work of national importance, principally in forestry or agriculture, and 198 to remain in their Civil Service employment. The remainder, 352, were posted to the Forces, either for combatant or non-combatant duties. Those who undertake work of national importance outside the Civil Service are paid the current rates for such work, and those who remain in the Civil Service receive the emoluments appropriate to their office. No information is available as to the number, if any, of conscientious objectors of the war of 1914–18 who have been promoted since 3rd September, 1939. I am not aware of any case of the promotion of a civil servant who has registered as a conscientious objector since the outbreak of war.