HC Deb 22 April 1931 vol 251 c959
17. Mr. HORE-BELISHA

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty why the mate scheme does not apply to the shipwright branch of the Royal Navy; and whether the committee inquiring into the mate scheme has investigated this aspect of the question?

Mr. AMMON

As the mate scheme is a method of obtaining by promotion from the lower-deck a proportion of officers who would otherwise be entered through other channels, it is not applicable as such to the shipwright branch. The evidence, however, given before the committee as to promotion in branches to which the mate scheme is not at present applicable is receiving consideration in connection with the report of the committee.