§ Captain Pluggeasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (1) whether he will state the types of work which are regarded as furnishing tradesmen for the Army; and how many men are registered as such tradesmen of military age who have not yet been called up and who are waiting for their services to be utilised;
(2) why it is proposed not to call up, until the Army needs such tradesmen, young men of 21 years of age and thereabouts who have registered but have not yet been called up and who are regarded as tradesmen even though they are unemployed; and, as older married men are being called up and the idleness of these younger men in many districts of the country is causing a bad impression, will he investigate the whole matter?
§ Mr. AsshetonThe civilian occupations which furnish tradesmen for these Service trades are given in the new edition of the Schedule of Reserved Occupations, which was put on sale by His Majesty's Stationery Office on 18th June. They are the occupations which appear in Part III of this document with an entry in the column headed "age of reservation from service in trade capacity." These occupations are in general those which are of such importance for munitions work that men can only be called up from them to the extent to which they are required by the Forces as tradesmen. In view of changing circumstances the Schedule is constantly under revision and if and when it appears that a larger number of young tradesmen are reserved than will be required, appropriate amendments are made; this has been done recently, in particular, in the case of certain classes of woodworkers. It would not be in the national interest to give the number concerned.