§ MR. CLAVELL SALTER (Hants, Basingstoke)To ask the Secretary of State for War, if he can State approximately for what period he anticipates it will be necessary to keep the officers and non-commissioned officers
† See Col. 94–95.531 of the battalions about to be disbanded upon the supernumerary establishment before they can be absorbed into their own or other regiments; and whether, in view of the fact that the course it is proposed to adopt will entail injury to the prospects of these officers and noncommissioned officers, especially in regard to their chances of promotion, he will say what steps it is proposed to take in order to mitigate such injury.(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) It is not possible to state how long the officers and non-commissioned officers of of these regiments will remain on the supernumerary list. As regards promotion, it must be remembered that the battalions now reduced were raised at a comparatively recent date, and consequently have enjoyed a more than ordinary flow of promotion. However, I recognise that there may be cases in which these reductions bear hardly on individuals, and these cases will be met by promotion into other regiments as occasion offers.