§ 8. Mr. John Lewisasked the Minister of Labour the average time which elapses between a recommendation by a Supply Department to his Ministry for Class B release of a soldier serving in this country and the date of his return to civilian life.
§ Mr. IsaacsProvided that the soldier can readily be identified and located, and that he makes up his mind at once to accept the offer of release in Class B, the average time taken in the United Kingdom from receipt of the application by the Ministry of Labour and National Service to the release of the individual, may be taken as about 2½ weeks.
§ Mr. LewisIs not my right hon. Friend aware that, while he might have been informed that the facts are as stated in the answer which he has given, in point of fact the usual period is 2½ months? Would my right hon. Friend take steps to ensure that some inter-departmental machinery is instituted almost immediately so that people who are required for 1056 essential reconstruction purposes are brought back to civilian life as early as possible?
§ Mr. IsaacsI will deal with the first part of my hon. Friend's question, and ignore the hinder part, which was more like a speech. The figures I gave were taken from our records. I say that the average time for people in this country is round about 2½ weeks. Some hon. Members may have supposed that I was speaking of the scheme as a whole, but I would repeat that in this country the average time is 2½ weeks.