§ Mr. Hollisasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury why service in the 1914–18 war, which counts for seniority in clerical Government employment, does not count for seniority in industrial Government employment.
§ Mr. JayI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the reckoning of seniority for the purpose of settling the order of discharge of employees who become redundant. Service in the 1914–18 war has not been regarded either by trade unions or by successive Governments, by whom agreements have been negotiated, as the proper basis of determining order of discharge on redundancy for industrial employees. On the other hand, a pledge was given in 1920, when the non-industrial Civil Service was being reconstructed after the war, that in certain non-industrial grades 187W ex-Service employees should have preference over those who had not given service in the Armed Forces, and this pledge has been duly fulfilled.