§ Mr. Hobdenasked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps she proposes to take to safeguard home career prospects of teachers, nurses and other professions seconded abroad under schemes designed as aid to underdeveloped countries.
§ Mr. WhitakerArrangements for secondment already exist in most fields of public employment and people are regularly recruited for a tour of duty overseas on terms that allow them to return to their previous employment without loss of seniority or pension rights. Some people in teaching, nursing or the medical profession undertake a period of overseas service between employment in one school or institution and their return to another; their pension rights are maintained during overseas service and they can obtain incremental and professional credit for the period overseas. The National Council for the Supply and Training of Teachers Overseas has successfully brought to the attention of local education authorities the value of overseas service in the furtherance of a teaching career in this country154W and the concept of a period of work overseas as a normal part of a home-based career is now generaly accepted. The Department of Health and Social Security has done much to promote the same concept among employing authorities in the Hospital Service. I am keeping the situation under review but think that at present it is generally satisfactory.