HC Deb 27 February 1946 vol 419 c1897
16. Commander Pursey

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the number of candidates for each branch of

A—EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
Qualified Professionally Qualified Educationally Qualified in Both Estimated Promotions
GUNNERS (T)
82 [...] 5 36
Note This is the nun bet of candidates on the roster who have qualified in Seamanship; of these 28 are doing t he Educational and Technical Course at the moment and 35 have already failed once
GUNNERS
89 — — 29
Note: This is the number of candidates on the roster qualified in Seamajnship; of these 36 are now on the Educational and Technical'; Course. 24 have already failed once.
BOATS WAINS
54 [...] [...] [...]
Note: An Educational Course for these candidates will begin this month.
BOATSWAINS (A/S)
B.—ENGINEERS.
Promotions to Warrant Engineer and Warrant Mechanician are made twice yearly in April and October from candidates who secure the best results in a professional examination. In the last examination, 108 candidates qualified for consideration Of these 13 were promoted in October 1945 (12 warrant engineers and one warrant mechanician) and it is estimated that a further 13 will be promoted in April, 1946. Promotions in October, 1946 will depend upon the results of the current examination which will not be known until the Summer.
My hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate that in all cases the estimated promotions must be regarded as tentative only, since they necessarily depend on decisions about the size of the postwar Navy which have yet to be taken.
Those candidates in the executive table who have not yet undergone their various courses to qualify for promotion will, of course, be given their opportunity as soon as they become available.
Commander Pursey

Is it not a fact that conditions of service are such that insufficient candidates are coming forward to be warrant officers? Will the right hon. Gentleman investigate the matter with the object of making that rank more attractive?

Mr. Alexander

I think the whole question of the warrant officer position is under review at the present moment.