§ 30. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Minister of Labour how many men were granted deferments of call-up on the grounds of study and apprenticeship, with separate figures for each category during the years 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1948.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsThe figures for 1947 and 1948 are as follow: Students—1947: 7,039. 1948: 6,713. Apprentices—1947: 45,287. 1948: 47,157. No comparable figures are available for 1945 and 1946 when deferment was not, as at present, granted to apprentices or students as such.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterCan the right hon. Gentleman say why the figure for apprentices is expected to rise during the current year by very nearly 50 per cent. over the figure which he has given?
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsThis is the result of pressure from both sides of the House that apprentices should be given the complete right of deferment; that is to say, they would serve their apprenticeship first and do their military service second. Because 970 of the growth of the apprenticeship system throughout the country, we are finding that apprentices are taking advantage of the right which Parliament gave them to serve their apprenticeships first and do their military service later.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterCan the right hon. Gentleman say when the new regulations come into force?
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsThere was an arrangement referred to in the White Paper on the call-up for the Forces in 1947–48, and, when the National Service Act came into operation, there was a continuation of that right.
§ 31. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Minister of Labour how many students and how many apprentices will come to the end of their periods of deferment during the year 1949; how many of these he intends to call up for National Service during the year 1949; and whether the latter figures are included in the total figures for call-up during that-year which have been already announced.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsThe figures asked for in the first part of the Question could be obtained only by special inquiries which would entail a heavy cost in staff and take a considerable time to complete. It is intended to call up this year all of these young men who are medically fit whose deferments expire sufficiently in advance of the end of the year; this number is estimated at 21,000, divided about equally between apprentices and students. The answer to the last part of the Question is "Yes."
§ Mr. ChetwyndWould my right hon. Friend give an assurance that none of these people deferred will escape their liability to military service?
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsI can give that assurance to the House. The machinery is the same as it was during the war in regard to students and apprentices, and the House can be assured that these people are to be called up.