Royal Hospital School, Holbrook

HC Deb 03 July 1963 vol 680 cc359-61

11. Commander Pursey

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty how many sons of officers and ratings, respectively, are at the Navy's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk; how many in each category are orphans; and what are the ranks of the officers and the number of their sons.

Mr. Hay

At the beginning of the current Summer term the number of sons of officers and ratings at the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, was 190 and 490, respectively, of whom 12 and 63, respectively, were orphans.

Admission of sons of officers is not dependent on the rank of the officer, and statistics are not maintained in a form which enables numbers related to the fathers' ranks to be stated at short notice. An analysis has, however, been made of the May, 1963, entry, when eight sons of officers were entered. The ranks of the fathers of these eight boys were as follows: 1 commander 1 lieutenant commander 4 lieutenants 1 sub lieutenant 1 second officer, Merchant Navy. In all eight cases these officers were promoted ratings.

Commander Pursey: May I ask the Civil Lord whether, when this orphanage was built in the late 1920s, which was fairly recently, it was intended to accommodate 1,000 sons of ratings, preferably orphans; and as this number was maintained at the old school at Greenwich, why are not all of the present low number of only 600-odd places reserved for the sons of ratings who have served in either the Royal Navy or the Mercantile Marine instead of having, apparently, one-third, or nearly one-third, of the number of places allocated to the sons of officers, who ought not to be there at all because this was intended to be an orphanage for the sons of poor ratings?

Mr. Hay

I am not aware of the facts that the hon. and gallant Member has mentioned. I will certainly investigate whether they are correct. In these days, however, we are more concerned with ensuring that the boys have proper education rather than with what their fathers happened to be.

12. Commander Pursey

asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the number of entries into the Navy's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk, on the last occasion, the number who were the sons of officers and ratings, respectively, the number who were orphans, the number who paid fees, and the range of the fees.

Mr. Hay

At the beginning of the current Summer Term a total of 39 boys were admitted to the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook. Of these, eight were sons of officers and 31 were sons of ratings. Eight of the boys were orphans, all of them sons of ratings.

In 25 cases the full fee of £33 6s. 8d. per term is being met either by local education authorities or by Navy Votes by way of education allowance.

In seven cases the local education authorities are giving assistance leaving the parents to contribute balances ranging from £2 13s. 4d. to £13 6s. 8d. per term.

In seven cases the full fee of £33 6s. 8d. per term is being met by parents without assistance.

Commander Pursey

May I ask the Civil Lord whether the position is that for every officer's son entering there is one less rating's son and that consequently, since the early regulations required a clergyman's certificate stating that the boy was an object of charity, the question arises whether officers' sons can be so described—as I had to be before I was eligible for entry? Is it not abominable that this school, which for 200 years was for the sons of poor ratings, and with no fees, should now have become a fee-paying school for officers' sons with the object of its becoming an early-entry Dartmouth scheme on to the quarterdeck of the Navy, instead of a school for poor ratings' sons on to the lower deck of the Navy?

Mr. Hay

No. I am sorry, but I think that the hon. and gallant Gentleman has grossly distorted the facts. The position is not that officers' sons are being preferred for entry to those of ratings and that ratings' sons are being kept out. On the contrary, the figures which I have already given show that the balance is being pretty well held. There is no evidence before me at the moment to show that any boys are being kept out of the school because they happen to be the sons of ratings.