HC Deb 31 July 1941 vol 373 cc1517-8
28. Mr. Glenvil Hall

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that an unpaid volunteer section leader in the Cambridge air-raid precautions service has been dismissed from the service without being told the charges made or given an opportunity to meet them; and whether he will instruct the local authority to hold an immediate public investigation into all the circumstances?

Mr. H. Morrison

The engagement and termination of the services of Civil Defence volunteers is a matter for the local authority concerned and one in which in ordinary circumstances I am not prepared to intervene.

Mr. Hall

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the very exceptional circumstances connected with this case, that a good deal of feeling has been shown in Cambridge on the matter and that I am informed that the local medical officer of health acted on a misconception of the facts? Cannot my right hon. Friend make representations to the local authority to hold an inquiry?

Mr. Morrison

It is a question of the relative importance of a Minister's duties, and unless a case is really such that it indicates that the administration of a local authority in that respect is fundamentally bad, I really think it best that the local people should settle the problem themselves.