§ 43. Mr. Collinsasked the Secretary of State for War if he is now in a position to make a further statement with regard to the provision of facilities to enable emergency officers between the ages of 45 and 55 to serve on under a regular engagement until they can qualify for a pension.
§ Mr. BellengerIt is not intended to provide for the grant of permanent Regular 20 commissions to emergency commissioned officers aged 45 years or over. Such officers may apply for short service Regular Army commissions and, if accepted, will qualify for gratuity on completion of their contract.
§ 44. Mr. Collinsasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that officers who made application nearly five months ago for short service regular commissions under A.C.I. 511/46 are still without news of the result of their applications; and if he will take steps to inquire into the reason for this delay, and to effect an immediate improvement.
§ Mr. BellengerI am aware that there has been some initial delay. The number of short service commissions is limited and in order to obtain the most suitable officers it was necessary to widen the original field of selection by including later applicants. Nearly half the applications so far received have now been dealt with, however, and extra staff was recently allotted to the work in order to accelerate the consideration of cases.