§ 1. Mr. de Freitasasked the Secretary of State for Air what changes are contemplated in the catering arrangements at Royal Air Force stations such as Swinderby.
§ The Secretary of State for Air (Mr. George Ward)Experiments with different forms of civilian catering are continuing at Swinderby and two other stations, but more evidence is needed before we can decide whether the widespread introduction of any of the different systems would be worth while. We are therefore extending the present arrangements at each of these stations for a further year, and shall as soon as possible be introducing them also at three additional stations.
§ Mr. de FreitasSince the Secretary of State told us at least a year ago that he was discussing these experiments of NA.A.F.I. catering, Service catering, contractor catering and mixed catering, is it not surely time that the Air Council was able to give some general idea of which is the most efficient?
§ Mr. WardAlthough I did announce our proposals about a year ago, they did not really get going until about August last year. One of the things about which we want to make sure is that they can keep their employees against the competition off the summer season.