§ 74. Mr. Liddallasked the Secretary of State for War whether, in order to give younger men of executive ability a chance of increased responsibility and to allow for the infusion of new ideas, he will review the case for the continued retention of each of the 59 Staff officers over the age of 61 and simultaneously consider whether he can still further reduce the age of the 136 higher military appointments in the War Office, seeing that only 21 of these are held by officers under 45 years of age?
§ The Secretary of State for War (Sir James Grigg)The position of all Staff officers is continuously under review, and as my hon. Friend is aware a special review of all officers over 45 was made under a recent Army Council Instruction. 38 My hon. Friend will however appreciate that in order to make the fullest use of man-power, it is generally desirable to employ the younger officers in the more active appointments.