§ Mr. W. Brownasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the file which records the decision that the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury should be the Head of the Civil Service, is still missing; and whether it is proposed to undertake further search for it?
§ Sir K. WoodMy hon. Friend no doubt has in mind the file leading up to the issue in 1867 of a Treasury Minute creating the office of Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. That file has been missing almost ever since. I am naturally not aware precisely what the file recorded, but since that date the post has carried with it the official headship of the Service, and the position was explicitly re-affirmed in 1919 by the Government of the day. The loss of the 1867 papers therefore no longer matters.