§ 16. Mr. P. Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Aviation whether he will establish a Royal Corps of Aircraft Designers on the model of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.
§ Mr. SandysI am afraid I am unable to adopt the right hon. Gentleman's suggestion. The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors are a body of professional civil servants in the Admiralty who design ships for the Royal Navy. The aircraft for the Royal Air Force are designed by the aircraft industry. There is, therefore, no need for a comparable body of professional civil servants to do this work.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerSince no one now believes in the value of competitive design or competitive research, but rather in the pooling of design and research, would it not be a good plan to adopt a scheme which has worked so admirably for the Admiralty and which, in fact, would be identical in system?
§ Mr. SandysI do not think the right hon. Gentleman has grasped the point. The people who belong to the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors are in the Admiralty designing ships for the Admiralty and for the Government. The work in the aircraft industry is done by designers in the separate firms. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that there will be the most keen competition in the aircraft industry.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerWith respect, I do not think the right hon. Gentleman understands my point of view. The Admiralty designers draw up plans for ships which are constructed by private firms. In order to secure the pooling of design and research, I am proposing that the same thing should be done in the case of aircraft.
§ Mr. SandysBut the people in the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors design ships only for the Royal Navy. In the aircraft industry we do not separate military and civil aircraft. It would be quite impracticable to separate the design of an aircraft for the Royal Air Force from the design of civil aircraft. There is very much in each case which is the same.