§ 131. Mr. Stewardasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he is aware that civil servants employed at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, after giving 38 years' service, are being refused full establishment unless able to pass a medical examination, thereby losing superannuation rights; and what action he proposes to take to remedy this position.
§ Mr. JayEstablishment in all branches of the Civil Service is conditional on the candidate satisfying the Civil Service Commissioners that he is free from any physical defect or disease likely to interfere with the proper discharge of his duties. Candidates who fail to satisfy this test, but are otherwise eligible for establishment, get the same superannuation rights to which they would have been entitled if they had passed the health test at the time, provided that they either pass it subsequently or reach the retiring age without an excessive amount of sick absence. I see no necessity to change this procedure.