HL Deb 26 May 1948 vol 155 cc1033-4

3.28 p.m.

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

[The question was as follows:

To ask His Majesty's Government, whether they are now in a position to make a statement in regard to the conditions and terms under which Captain Edmund Fresson was discharged from the service of British European Airways.]

THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION (LORD NATHAN)

My Lords, under the terms of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946, it is a function of management reserved to the boards of Corporations to make appointments and discharges of staffs and to settle the terms and conditions of their employment. I would add that, in view of the interest which this case has attracted, I have thought it desirable, in order to avoid public misunderstanding, to make inquiries of the Corporation. As a result, I understand that Captain Edmund Fresson has been awarded compensation on terms which compare favourably with awards made in similar circumstances to other members of the staffs of the Corporations.

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for making inquiries in this matter, I should like to fortify his inquiry by quoting what he slid in Edinburgh on November 28, 1946, when opening the Scottish Division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He stated that the staff of the Division would very largely consist of those then running the Scottish air services and with special knowledge of conditions and needs. I would like to ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that Captain Fresson is a man of fifty-six, who has given thirty years' service to civil aviation. He has now had his tools of trade taken away from him and cannot practise. He is left, in fact, with one and a half year's salary at that age.