§ 1. Mr. Ian Harveyasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will take steps to revise the composition of the Army Council in order to include the Director of the Territorial Army.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for War (Mr. Michael Stewart)No, Sir. The appropriate military members of the Army Council are now responsible for Territorial Army matters in the same way as for the Regular Army.
§ Mr. HarveyDoes not the hon. Gentleman feel that the special aspect of Territorial Army service demands that it should be represented on a higher level than is the case today?
§ Mr. StewartNo, Sir. The Director of the Territorial Army is called into consultation as a matter of course when matters affecting the Territorial Army are concerned.
§ Sir George Harvie-WattDoes not the hon. Gentleman think that it would be a good practice to revive the scheme which was in operation before the war under which there was a Deputy Director-General of the Territorial Army who was himself a Territorial officer?
§ Mr. StewartThe circumstances are somewhat different from what they were before the war. The Territorial and Regular Armies are more closely integrated and I think that the present procedure gives the best result today.
§ Brigadier HeadDoes the Under-Secretary not think that now that the Territorial Army will shortly comprise more than half the whole Army, an impression will be given to members of the Territorial Army that it is a Regular Army "racket" and that their representative is being kept off the Army Council, on which he should have a place in view of his responsibility?
§ Mr. StewartNo, Sir. It is not as if the Territorial Army were unrepresented. The Deputy-Chief of the Imperial General Staff is the member of the Army Council who is responsible for Territorial Army matters.