§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill."
§ 9.8 p.m.
§ Sir P. SASSOONThis is an Amendment of Sections 108A and 115 of the Air Force Act, and the reason for it is that, as hon. Members know, the Army 2724 is organised on a geographical basis and an Army Command covers a particular area of the country, and together they make up a mosaic covering the whole country, whereas the Royal Air Force is organised on a functional basis. Royal Air Force areas and Commands may therefore include units stationed in any part of the country, according to the functions which these units perform. In these circumstances the words, "in any district or place" in Sections 108A and 115 of the Air Force Act are inappropriate to the Air Force, and the purpose of the Amendments in Clause 7 of the Bill is not to widen the powers of the Act in relation to emergency billeting and emergency requisitioning, but to enable them to be applied effectively by avoiding the geographical limitation. The Amendments do not affect the rank of the officer empowered to issue the requisitions, but the words, "holding any appointment designated for the purposes of this Section by the Air Council," are added to enable the power to issue emergency requisitions, for instance, the provision of motor-cars or vehicles to be given to an auxiliary Air Force officer in command of a station containing a "mobilisation pool."