§ 6. Mr. Remnantasked the Minister of Labour what is the average time between the discharge of a National Service man from one Service and his call-up for another to complete the period of two years.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodThe average time taken is about three months, but National Service men discharged on compassionate grounds are not considered for recall until at least six months have elapsed since discharge.
§ Mr. RemnantIs my right hon. Friend aware that in the case with which I was concerned there were six months between discharge from the Navy and the man's call-up for the Air Force? Is it is not entirely wrong that, through no fault of his own, a man should have to spend two and a half years of his life connected with National Service rather than the two years laid down, and will my right hon. Friend please examine the matter to see whether this interval cannot be curtailed to a minimum?
§ Mr. MacleodWe do try to keep it as low as possible. Of course, the figure of three months which I gave is an average, and it follows that there are some cases in the neighbourhood of five months, such as the one to which my hon. Friend refers. We recognise that such a gap can be extremely inconvenient if it is followed by recall, and we do try to keep it as small as possible.
§ Mr. RemnantWould my right hon. Friend consider whether part of the gap might not be included in the term "National Service"?
§ Mr. MacleodIt is an interesting idea, which I thought of, as a matter of fact, when I saw the Question on the Order Paper but there are no powers under which I could do that.