§ 1. Captain Sir Ian Fraserasked the Minister of Labour how many officers have been retired from the Armed Forces on account of disabilities or under age limits and have applied to the Central Register for employment; and how many have been placed?
§ The Minister of Labour (Mr. Ernest Bevin)The only statistics available are those relating to ex-Army officers retired under Army Council Instruction 422 of 1942. Of these, 1,757 have enrolled for employment on the registers of the Appointments Department since March, 1942. Of these 251 remained on these Registers or on other Registers on 31st January, 1943. Some 900 are known to have found employment, of whom 445 were placed by the Appointments Branch and about 100 by the Central (Technical and Scientific) Register and the Employment Exchanges, 104 have been re-employed in the Army, 501 have not maintained their enrolment. Statistics regarding other ex-officers are not available.
§ Sir I. FraserIs it not a fact that there are two or three Government organisations which purport to find jobs for ex-officers and also for ex-other ranks, for instance, the Central Register and the special department set up by my right hon. Friend, and since there is some confusion, could he make a clear statement which officers could understand as to how they should proceed?
§ Mr. BevinI would advise all ex-officers to go to the Appointments Department, and then I will co-ordinate the efforts of the other Departments concerned.