§ 58. Mr. POLLOCKasked the Prime Minister whether he is able to state the number of men of efficient military age at present employed in the various Departments of the Civil Service in Great Britain and Ireland; and whether an effort is being made to secure the services of retired Civil servants or other older men in order to enable leave to enlist to be granted to as large a number of Civil servants of efficient military age as possible?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am unable to state the number asked for. Every effort is made to release from the Civil Service men of military age, who are almost universally anxious to undertake military service, but heads of Departments are compelled to retain the service of men for whom substitutes cannot be found and where their loss would be detrimental to the efficiency of the Department. By performing the duties of their offices these men are serving their country in the most effective way possible to them.
§ Mr. POLLOCKIs there any difficulty in giving those figures now, considering that the pink forms are being dealt with by the Local Government Board?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI will consider that.