HC Deb 01 May 1951 vol 487 cc980-3
11. Mr. Nigel Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will announce a fixed upper age-limit for Class Z recall.

Mr. M. Stewart

So far as recall for training this year is concerned, the upper age limit is 45 years. With regard to recall for training in later years, or in the event of general mobilisation, I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Kidderminster (Mr. Nabarro) on 24th April.

Brigadier Head

If 45 is suitable as a call-up ceiling for this year, why should it not be adopted as a general policy for future years? If that is the policy, why does not the hon. Gentleman say so quite definitely?

Mr. Stewart

There is a difference between what is probable and likely, and what it would be wise to say with certainty in view of the present uncertainty.

Brigadier Head

Would the Undersecretary of State consider trying to make some decision on the matter, even if the age were unduly high, because if there is no ceiling at all the Class Z reservists who might think of joining the Home Guard or Civil Defence cannot do so because they are unaware of the upper age limit?

Mr. Stewart

We are considering this matter.

14. Mr. Cooper-Key

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will arrange that men serving under the Z scheme can claim a refund of their season ticket cost for the period of their 15 days' service.

Mr. M. Stewart

This is a matter for the British Transport Commission. I have asked them whether in such circumstances a refund would be considered.

25. Mr. James Johnson

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that militia men are not being recalled upon Class Z, while those men who volunteered for service in the Territorial Army before 1939 are being recalled; and if he will explain why this is happening.

Mr. M. Stewart

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Ian Harvey) on 24th April.

Mr. Johnson

Is my hon. Friend aware that that answer is of little help to me? I have cases of this differentiation, and I believe that it offends against our sense of fair play. Will he have another look at the matter?

Mr. Stewart

There would not be much purpose in my saying that I would have another look at the matter. If my hon. Friend will study my answer, he will see that the differentiation springs not from any administrative action by the War Department but from the terms of Acts of Parliament.

29. Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware of the extent to which undergraduates and students are being called up for Z Reserve duties during their term-time; and whether he will reconsider the dismissal of their appeals.

Mr. M. Stewart

I cannot say how many undergraduates and students who are Z reservists are being called up for training this year. Generally speaking, exemption is granted in the case of undergraduates due to be called up in term-time, and in the case of other students when call-up would prejudice their chances of success at examinations which are essential to their career or to the continuance of their studies.

Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Bennett

Is it not extremely extravagant to force young men who are undergoing scientific or technological training to have an extra term at their place of education because of a fortnight's interruption in the term they were attending, and would it not be an economy for the country as well as for the parents if this were postponed?

Mr. Stewart

It is not always necessary for the man to have an extra term because of the extraction of a fortnight from one term. If in any particular case it would cause him exceptional injury, that is exactly the kind of case where we should cancel the recall.

Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Bennett

The request has been turned down.

30. Mr. Edward Heath

asked the Secretary of State for War what principle has been followed in allocating to an arm of the Service for training Z reservists who served for the greater part of the last war in one arm but who were transferred to another arm for the last few months of their service.

Mr. M. Stewart

These reservists will be called up for training with the arm which they were serving at the time of their release.

Mr. Heath

Would it not be very much better, both for the individual and the nation, to take advantage of his long period of service during the war, instead of calling that man up to an arm in which he served for possibly only two or three months at the end of the war, when he was doing mainly administrative duties? This arrangement involves re-training a man in that new arm, which defeats the whole purpose of the Z call-up.

Mr. Stewart

Owing to the transfer which occurred at the end of his war service, he would already have been re-trained for the arm to which he had been transferred.

Hon. Members

No.