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Petrol-conservation.— Reference lias previously been made to the fact that petrol-conservation officers and/or committees have been established at many towns throughout the country. These officers continue to do excellent work in so far as co-ordination of travelling, curtailment of unnecessary travelling, and the use of existing means of transport are concerned. Appeal Board. —During the year the Public Service Board of Appeal sat on three occasions. The Board considered 108 appeals, of which 6 were allowed, 86 were not allowed, and 16 were withdrawn. These appeals were all in the nature of non-promotion appeals. Normally the elected members of the Public Service Board of Appeal would retire in May next, and an election would be necessary to appoint their successors. The elected members are at present Mr. J. Turnbull, State Advances Corporation, Hamilton, and Mr. D. A. Young, Land and Deeds Department, Hokitika. In view of the fact that those members of the Service who are serving overseas would be disfranchised by their absence, authority was obtained to avoid an election this year, and the present members continue to act for a further twelve months. Offences by Officers. —It was necessary to take action against some thirty-eight officers during the year for misappropriation (four cases), neglect of duty (ten eases), and unsatisfactory conduct (twentyfour cases). In the cases of misappropriation the four officers forfeited office ; for neglect of duty the services of seven officers were dispensed with and three officers received lighter penalties ; for unsatisfactory conduct the services of nineteen officers were terminated, three officers were fined, and two officers were dealt with more lightly. Recruitment of Cadets. —During the year 679 cadets and junior male office assistants were appointed to the Public Service. The number has, unfortunately, dropped during the past two years —in 1940, ■845 cadets were appointed, and in 1941, 771. Although the needs of the Service were just as great it was not possible to obtain more than the 679 above mentioned. Of this number, some 305 had qualifications equivalent to the School Certificate Examination or higher. Many more vacancies occur in Wellington than in other centres, and 277 of the 679 appointees were required for duties in this city. Board and lodging is extremely difficult to obtain in Wellington, and it is thought that this has probably had an adverse effect on the recruiting figures during the past year. Again, the class of lads available for recruitment is in many cases the same class that is within a month or two of military service. This probably has an unsettling effect on the applicants, and possibly many of them did not think it worth while to accept employment necessitating their leaving their home towns when they would be available for employment for only a few months. In recruiting cadets, however, the fact that a boy may be available for only a few months has not militated against his enrolment in the Service. The long view has been taken that the youth should, if possible, have a settled position to return to when he is free from military obligations. Public Service List of Officers. —Since the passing of the Public Service Act, 1912, a list of officers ■employed in the Public Service has been gazetted annually. For convenience this list shows, as well as the salary payable to the officer as at 31st March in which the list is published, the salary payable for the year ending on the following 31st March. As the Public Service Classification List is now a volume consisting of approximately 250 pages, it will be appreciated that the gazetting of the list involved a considerable amount of paper. As a paper-economy measure it was decided this year that, although the Classification List should be prepared, it would not be published as a supplement to the Gazette. Uniformity Committee. —Many matters of principle involving the four main civilian State Services — i.e., Post and Telegraph, Railways, Education (Teachers, &c.), and Public Service under the control of the Public Service Commissioner, received consideration by the Uniformity Committee. The Committee consists of the Administrative Heads of the Services mentioned, with the addition of the Secretary to the Treasury. In this manner some degree of uniformity is obtained in the application of principles affecting all Services. Private Employment of Officers. —Section 59 of the Public Service Act, 1912, and Public Service Regulation 25 expressly forbid Public Servants to accept employment beyond their Public Service employment unless with the approval of the Commissioner. In normal times very strict attention was paid to these provisions, and any infringement without the required permission was severely noticed. However, owing to war conditions, it has frequently been necessary for Man-power Officers in the various centres to call for casual labour at extremely short notice. Authority has been given to District Man-pow'er Officers to use Public Servants for casual work of this nature at their discretion. Use of Public Servants has been made in connection with waterfront labour, work in wool and cool stores, and seasonal work connected with primary production. These arrangements have been approved only while the present state of the labour market continues, and will definitely not continue after the termination of the war. Declaration of Public Service as an Essential Undertaking. —The Public Service as defined by the Public Service Act, 1912, was declared to be an essential undertaking as from 31st July, 1942. As from that date, therefore, the provisions of the National Service Emergency Regulations 1940 and the Industrial Absenteeism Emergency Regulations 1942 became operative in all Departments under the control of the Commissioner. There is no doubt that, taking the Service as a whole, the declaration of essentiality has had a beneficial effect in that loss of staff where no sufficient reason for leaving was available has been greatly curtailed. No great difficulty has been experienced in reconciling Public Service procedure regarding engagement of staff and termination of employment with the requirements of the National Service Regulations. Engagement of Staff for War Work. —It has been necessary to engage from outside the Public Service certain staff to meet the abnormal growth of departmental business arising through war conditions. This staff is, of course, in the main only engaged on a temporary basis. It has become very apparent that the salary scales now applying in the Public Service are considerably below rates paid for comparable positions outside the Service. Many temporary appointments have been necessary to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Supply, and suitable men have been most difficult to obtain at Public Service rates of pay. It has, of course, been recognized for a considerable time that there are compensations for Public Service rates of pay being below rates of pay operating outside the Public Service. The Service offers continuity of employment, more settled working-conditions, and other benefits such as superannuation, &c. Even taking into consideration these benefits I have no hesitation in saying that Public Service rates are now lagging when compared with outside rates of pay. In no cases are these differences more marked than in the case of administrative officers. In many cases administrative officers running large and important Government Departments are receiving salaries

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