HC Deb 28 April 1931 vol 251 cc1436-9
35. Mr. CECIL WILSON

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give the numbers and percentage of rejections for physical reasons in the 10 most important centres for enlistment in each of the last five years?

The SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. T. Shaw)

The term "centre" has been interpreted to mean "recruiting zone." I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures relating to 10 larger representative zones.

Following are the figures:

STATEMENT showing the Number of Men served with Notice Papers during the last Five Recruiting Years in the undermentioned Recruiting Zones, and the Number Rejected for Physical or Medical Reasons, with Percentage.
Zone. Number of men served with Notice Papers. Numbers Rejected for Physical or Medical Reasons. Percentage of Rejections.
Year ended 30th September Year ended 30th September Year ended 30th September
1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930. 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930. 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930.
London 15,612 16,694 16,870 12,985 10,857 10,323 11,691 11,141 7,863 5,921 66.1 70.0 66.0 60.5 54.5
South Midland Zone, which includes Bristol and Birmingham. 7,467 7,927 6,729 5,593 5,342 4,018 4,497 3,572 2,618 2,499 53.8 56.7 53.1 46.8 46.7
West Lancashire Zone, which includes Liverpool. 4,897 4,048 5,253 4,537 4,895 3,381 2,504 3,279 3,052 3,373 69.0 61.8 62.4 67.3 69.0
Glasgow 3,810 3,498 3,037 2,328 2,077 3,331 2,863 1,752 1,242 1,087 87.4 81.8 57.7 53.3 52.3
East Lancashire Zone, which includes Preston and Manchester. 6,190 6,932 8,589 7,388 7,298 4,147 5,241 6,077 5,080 5,170 67.0 75.6 70.7 68.8 70.8
Welsh Zone, which includes Cardiff. 4,091 3,519 4,037 4,235 4,015 1,786 1,283 1,509 1,686 1,648 43.6 36.5 37.4 39.8 41.0
West Riding Zone, which includes Leeds, Sheffield and Hull. 7,737 7,749 9,096 7,810 6,798 5,141 5,378 6,109 4,825 3,981 66.4 69.4 67.2 61.8 58.5
South Eastern Zone, which includes Maidstone and Chatham. 3,746 3,384 3,091 2,801 2,309 2,022 1,605 1,364 1,132 912 54.0 47.4 44.1 40.4 39.5
Northumbrian Zone, which includes Newcastle and Middles brough. 5,454 5,350 6,272 5,325 4,596 2,354 2,469 3,021 2,738 2,317 43.2 46.1 48.2 51.4 50.4
North Midland Zone, which includes Nottingham. 2,252 1,659 1,473 1,535 1,668 919 732 378 176 209 40.8 44.1 25.7 11.5 12.5

36. Mr. WILSON

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he can give the percentage of rejections for physical reasons for the five years prior to the War and for the last five years?

Mr. SHAW

I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures showing the percentage of rejections on physical and medical grounds in the recruiting years 1909–1913 and in the last five recruiting years.

STATEMENT showing the number of men served with Notice Papers, the number rejected on physical or medical grounds with percentage for the undermentioned periods.
Ended 30th September. Number of men served with Notice Papers. Number rejected for physical or medical reasons. Percentage.
Five Recruiting years prior to 1914.
1909 … … … 75,630 35,364 46.7
1910 … … … 63,751 31,056 48.7
1911 … … … 65,724 29,321 44.6
1912 … … … 57,681 20,577 35.6
1913 … … … 46,133 12,277 26.6
Last five Recruiting Years.
1926 … … … 83,092 48,800 58.7
1927 … … … 83,814 50,396 60.1
1928 … … … 82,938 47,552 57.3
1929 … … … 72,268 39,359 54.4
1930 … … … 66,717 35,425 53.1