HC Deb 02 August 1961 vol 645 cc1447-8
5. Mr. Dance

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he has any plans for widening the basis on which flying scholarships are awarded.

Mr. J. Amery

In addition to the 350 flying scholarships now awarded to members of the Air Cadet organisations we plan to make available 100 flying scholarships a year to boys who are attending schools at which there is no unit of the Air Training Corps or Royal Air Force Section of the Combined Cadet Force. Candidates for these scholarships will have to pass the same medical, educational and other tests as volunteers for aircrew. With permission, I will circulate further details of this scheme in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Dance

I thank my right hon. Friend for that Answer, which I think is most encouraging. Will this new scheme in any way prejudice the existing scheme under which flying scholarships are awarded to members of the Air Cadet organisation?

Mr. Amery

No, Sir. I am glad that my hon. Friend has asked that question. The new scheme is independent of and additional to the existing one.

Mr. Dance

Does not my right hon. Friend agree that boys in the Air Cadet organisation who are really interested will carry on?

Mr. Amery

The object of this scheme is to catch boys in those schools where there is not a unit of the Air Training Corps or a Royal Air Force section of the Combined Cadet Force. There are schools which have not either of those facilities, and we think that there might well be boys in them who would like to join the Royal Air Force.

Following are the details: It has been decided that 100 flying scholarships, similar to those at present awarded to members of the A.T.C. and the R.A.F. Section of the Combined Cadet Force, should be made available under certain conditions to boys who do not belong to either of those organisations. Each scholarship will entitle the holder to free tuition in flying up to the standard of the Pilot's "A" licence at a civil flying club. Tuition will not begin until the pupil is 17. This new venture will not prejudice in any way the present scheme for the award of flying scholarships to members of the Air Cadet organisations. The number of scholarships available under this latter scheme is very much larger—it is at present 350—and boys who belong to Air Cadet organisations will consequently continue to have a very much better chance of obtaining an award than those who do not. Very broadly, the conditions which will require to be satisfied before an award can be made under the new scheme include the following:
  1. (a) A candidate should be attending a school at which there is no unit of the Air Training Corps or R.A.F. Section of the Combined Cadet Force.
  2. (b) He should be genuinely interested in the possibility of joining the R.A.F.
  3. (c) He should have passed the medical, educational and other tests which are applied to volunteers for aircrew duties.
The new scheme is still being worked out in detail.
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