§ 27. Mr. ERNEST BROWNasked the Secretary of State for Air how many officials in executive positions in the Air Ministry and the Department of Civil Aviation are without flying qualifications?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Samuel Hoare)I am not sure what the hon. Member means by officials in executive positions; the expression would cover officials concerned with the issue of stationery, the audit of accounts, the building of barracks, or other duties in which flying qualifications would obviously be wasted. I can assure him that all executive posts in which flying qualifications are necessary are held by officials possessing such qualifications. I may add, since there seems to be an impression that there is a bias against ex-service men at the Air Ministry, that my Department has always been at pains to further the legitimate interests of ex-service men in its employ. It has, moreover, been so successful in this direction 386 that reference to the latest quarterly statement relating to the employment of ex-service men in Government offices (Command Paper No. 2867) will show that the percentage of ex-service men to total staff on the 1st April last in the Air Ministry was higher than in any other Government Department. The hon. Member will, therefore, appreciate that this impression is entirely baseless, and I hope he will bring the actual facts to the notice of any ex-service interests with whom he may be in touch.