§ 49. Mr. DOBBIEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when it is intended to publish the schemes for the protection of the civilian population against gas attack, and what are the reasons for the repeated postponement of their announcement?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Captain Euan Wallace)The general circular on civil air-raid precautions is being posted to local authorities to-night. It will be communicated to the Press at the same time, and will be placed on sale to the public. The terms of this circular naturally required the most careful consideration, and, before they could be finally settled, an opportunity had to be given to the new Air Raid Precautions Department of the Home Office to complete its survey of the work done hitherto.
§ 50. Mr. DOBBIEasked the Home Secretary what is the membership of the air raids precautions committee; what is the number of black-outs, the places where they have been held, and their results; and what is the number of blackouts arranged for the month of July?
§ Captain WALLACEThe committees dealing with the subject of air-raid precautions are sub-committees of the Committee of Imperial Defence, and it would be contrary to established practice to disclose the membership of such subcommittees. Two "black-outs" have 327 been carried out in the neighbourhood of naval dockyards, at Chatham and Sheerness respectively. Thanks to the loyal co-operation of the public, the results were in general very satisfactory, and are now under detailed examination. No "black-outs" have been arranged to take place in July, but it has already been announced that there will be a "black-out" at Portsmouth in August.