§ 98. Mr. J. Lewisasked the Minister of Transport why men over the age of 40 years are not considered to be eligible for appointment to his Department as assistant engineers, mechanical engineering.
§ Mr. BarnesThe regulations governing the competition for appointment of assistant engineers in my Department were made by the Civil Service Commission,324W with the approval of the Treasury. The upper age limit of 41 was fixed after consideration of all factors one of which was the fact that this grade is the junior grade of the engineering staff of the Department and is designed to provide, in due course, candidates for advancement to the senior grades of that staff. The suspension of recruitment throughout the war years has led to an unbalanced age distribution and but for the desire to make good opportunities lost to potential candidates by the war, the upper age limit would have been 35 as it was before the war.