HC Deb 09 May 1935 vol 301 cc1130-2
38. Mrs. TATE

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of the largely-increased commitments and responsibilities which the Air Ministry are now faced with, a satisfactory way can be found for the Admiralty to relieve them of their responsibility for the naval air-arm and flying-boat units?

The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Philip Sassoon)

The answer is in the negative. The existing system represents the considered decisions of successive Governments, after repeated investigations. The fact that this country is again faced with difficult conditions in the air reinforces the arguments against any change in the present unified organisation, which was adopted as the result of practical experience in the late war, after a variety of other expedients had been tried and failed.

Mrs. TATE

Is it not the case that while the flying-boat units were under Admiralty control during the War our flying boats were more advanced than those of any other country in the world, and that the case is very much the opposite to-day?

42. Mrs. TATE

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many naval officers and naval ratings normally serve with the flying-boat squadrons; and whether the composition, training, and disposition of these squadrons is regulated by the Admiralty?

The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Sir Bolton Eyres Monsell)

No naval officer or rating serves with the flying-boat squadrons. They are a responsibility of the Air Ministry, and their com-

COAL MINING INDUSTRY.
Great Britain.
Year. Average Weekly Cash Earnings of all workers employed. Output per man-shift worked. Average Number of Persons Employed.
Wage-earners. Clerks and Salaried Persons.
£ s. d. Cwts.
1920 … … 4 6 11* 14.54 1,225,929
1921 … … 3 14 11* January-March, 14.46 1,130,672
April-September, not available
October-December, 17.73
1922 … … 2 8 1 18.02 1,148,469
1923 … … 2 11 8 17.83 1,203,290
1924 … … 2 13 2 17.59 1,191,984 21,740
1925 … … 2 10 8 18.02 1,083,637 18,805
1926 … … 2 13 9* 18.46 (January-April) March,
1,096,785 18,855
December,
924,638 18,967
1927 … … 2 7 2 20.61 1,005,006 18,880
1928 … … 2 3 9 21.29 921,260 17,728
1929 … … 2 5 6 21.69 939,367 17,307
1930 … … 2 3 10 21.62 914,328 17,048
1931 … … 2 2 11 21.61 851,623 16,241
1932 … … 2 2 1 21.99 803,615 15,709
1933 … … 2 2 5 22.47 773,640 15,451
1934 … … 2 4 5 22.94 772,831 15,379
* Periods affected by disputes have been excluded in calculating the average weekly cash earnings. The national dispute in 1920 and that in South Wales in January, 1931, lasted about three weeks in each case, but as quarterly returns only are available, the whole of the quarters affected have been excluded.

position, training and disposition are, therefore, not regulated by the Admiralty.

Mr. MACQUISTEN

Is it not necessary that a man flying an aeroplane should be a navigator and know his way about in the sky the same as he does on the sea?