§ 24. Mr. Bartlettasked the Under-secretary of State for War what steps are taken to ensure opportunities for junior officers to pass on to the men under their command the material and information contained in ABCA publications?
§ Mr. SandysThe whole purpose of these publications is to supply officers with information to discuss with their men. In the great majority of units, time for these discussions is provided out of working hours.
§ Mr. BartlettWill the Minister do what he can to see that in the units where time is not available it should be made available, because it is the fact that in a great number of units there are so many parades and inspections to see whether buttons are properly cleaned, and so on, that there is not time for the junior officers to pass on information which he has been told to do?
§ Mr. SandysWhat my hon. Friend says is misleading. In the cases where it has hitherto not been possible to find time to discuss these publications during working hours this has not been due to parades or excess of inspections, but to the nature of the duties of the units concerned. This difficulty is under consideration and I hope that we shall be able to remedy it.
§ Mr. Charles WilliamsIs not the real trouble that the Army have far too man}' publications which are being sent to junior officers?