§ 8. Mr. Austinasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in 384 view of the increasing importance in the R.N. of engineering in all branches concerned with ships, gunnery, equipment and aircraft, he will consider the setting up of a special technical branch composed of specialists from each section, as has been done recently by the R.A.F. as set out in A.M.O. A1026/1946.
Mr. DugdaleNo, Sir. The range and complexity of machinery, weapons, and equipment in the Royal Navy is very great, and the separate specialist branches must be retained.
§ 9. Mr. Austinasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the increasing dependence of the R.N. on engineering technical administration, he will consider representation of a senior officer of the technical branches on the Board of Admiralty comparable to such representation on the Air Council.
Mr. DugdaleNo, Sir. The present arrangements for representation on the Board of Admiralty, under which the Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy is responsible to the First Lord for the provision of material of the Fleet, including ships and machinery are wholly satisfactory.