54. Mr. J. P. L. Thomasasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he will publish the Report of the Eastham Committee on the conditions and terms of remuneration for the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors; and if he will make a statement giving the proposed new conditions and terms of remuneration which are to be offered to the Corps.
§ The Civil Lord of the Admiralty (Mr. Walter Edwards)The report of the Eastham Committee is a confidential document intended only for the advice of the Board of Admiralty. As my noble Friend has indicated in another place, it is hoped to make an announcement in the near future on the revised salaries of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.
Mr. ThomasIs the Civil Lord aware that the findings in the Eastham Committee's Report are now nearly three years' old, and that this delay on the part of the Government in forming a judgment on those findings is not only delaying recruiting but resulting in highly qualified men now actually leaving the Corp?
§ Mr. EdwardsI cannot quite accept the suggestion that this matter is delaying recruiting. On the last occasion I made a statement, I was able to show that there were more people in the Corps than there were three years ago. At the same time, we are getting on with our consideration of this very difficult problem as quickly as we can.