asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury when the reply to the claim by the Civil Service Clerical Association for revised pay for established clerical and allied staffs, submitted to his Department on 4th June, 1946, will be determined and sent to the claimants; when will the claim for parity of pay for permanent and temporary staffs submitted to his Department in November, 1946, be determined, and the claim for improved pay for locally entered staffs employed at Malta submitted to the three Service Ministries on 6th September, 1946, considered.

Shortly, I hope, in the case of the first two claims. As to the, third, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty on 26th February.

Could my right hon. Friend kindly define what he means by "shortly"?

I do not want to be tied down, as there are 270,000 people involved in these claims, and it takes time. But my right hon. Friend hopes that by "shortly" we mean, say, within the next few weeks.

Thank you.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if any decision has yet been made on the claims made by the Civil Service Clerical Association in accordance with a memorandum which has been submitted to him by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South.

I would refer the hon. Member to the letter sent to him yesterday. It has been agreed that one claim should be referred to the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal; as to the others, I hope that decisions will be announced shortly.

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for the very full letter which I received from him this morning, may I ask him whether, in view of the Government's appeal to speed up claims, he will do his best to speed up this one?

Yes, Sir.