17

H.—l4

Legislation affecting the Public Service Act. 94. Under the Post and Telegraph Department Act, 1918, the Commissioner is relieved from the duties in connection with this Department as from the Ist April, 1919, other than making appointments. The Commissioners wrote fully about the necessities of the officers of this Department, and their accentuation owing to the postponement of the regrading of the Public Service. Under section 14 of the Appropriation Act, 1918, the period during which consideration may be given, in deciding the promotion of officers, to the examinations passed by them was extended to the 31st March, 1919. Under section 22 of the same Act it was provided that the general regrading of officers employed in all Departments, in accordance with section 17 of the Public Service Act, should take effect as from the Ist April, 1919. In the same section provision was made for the establishment, by the GovernorGeneral in Council, of a new scale of salaries and increments of salaries for officers of the Clerical Division of the Public Service : also for the appointment of an Acting Assistant Commissioner. Under section 39 of the War Legislation and Statute Law Amendment Act, 1918, apprentices in the Government service are not deemed to be permanent officers of the Public Service within the meaning and for the purposes of the Public Service Act, 1912. Dangerous Occupations. 95. While dangerous occupations in the Public Service are limited, the Commissioners have had occasion to call the attention of the Department of Agriculture to the necessity for making provision for the better protection of men who act as poison-mixers. It is understood that the matter is being taken up by the Department. Housing of Public Servants. 96. The disabilities under which public servants transferred from one place to another, particularly to small country towns, suffer owing to the difficulty in procuring housing-accommodation has been brought forcibly under notice of late years. While the complaint of lack of housing-accommodation is not, at the present time, confined to public servants, it will happen, under the most favourable circumstances, that difficulties arise in small places, and it is suggested for consideration that this might be met in some way. At present some Departments regularly provide living-accommodation in country places, but others do not. It is not suggested that public servants should be given any consideration over others in the cities, but in this connection an undesirable precedent has been established lately by the purchase by the Labour Department of a house for the officer in charge of that Department at Auckland. Unless the purchase of houses for officers in the cities is to be made general, it is considered that Departments should be forbidden to make special concessions of the kind. Board of Appeal. 97. The General Service Board met on three occasions and the Post and Telegraph Board on two occasions during the year ended the 31st March, 1919, the business dealt with being as follows : —

3—H. 14.

Postal. 1. Appeals lodged .. .. . • • • 77 2. Appeals withdrawn .. .. ' .. .. 24 3. Appeals allowed .. • • • ■ • ■ 2 4. Appeals disallowed .. .. .. • • 43 5. Appeals which Board agreed did not lie .. .. 8 j Telegraph. 57 10 7 25 15 General Service. Totals. 74 9 5 34 26 208 43 14 102 49