§ Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that at the time last year when the formation of Section A of the Volunteer Force was undertaken officers of Volunteer units in many cases encouraged men to join that section by assuring them that in the matter of the obligation to attend a fixed number of drills per month all reasonable elasticity would be maintained in the arrangements and alternative opportunities for drills provided, so that no man need be deterred from joining the section by apprehension that he would be unable to attend the requisite drills by reason of his business engagements; that in some instances commanders of Volunteer battalions and companies are now requiring the attendance of men of Section A and of all other sections of the Volunteer units concerned at each one of certain drills on specified days at a specified hour without offering any alternative, these drills being officially described in the company orders as obligatory, and notice being given that men can only absent themselves from a drill no described if they have obtained written leave of absence from an officer authorised to give it; that it is impossible for all members of Volunteer companies or of the various sections to assemble frequently at the same hour and at the same place without serious business and other inconvenience to members of the corps; whether the Army Council has prescribed or authorised the system of compulsory attendances described in the preceding clauses of the question; and whether the officer commanding a Volunteer battalion or company has power to inflict any penalty, and, if so, what, on a man under 327W his command who fails to attend a particular drill specified as obligatory in the company orders issued orally or in writing?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe intention certainly was to introduce elasticity. I am not aware that in certain Volunteer battalions a compulsory character has been given to individual drills, and if my hon. Friend will give me particulars I will inquire. I would remind him, however, that in a scattered battalion the nature of the case precludes any wide range of alternatives, although the minimum required is not large. Failure to attend the drills for which he contracted renders a Volunteer liable to be dealt with, but I have no doubt that where good cause can be shown for failure to adhere strictly to the agreement the case would be sympathetically considered.
§ Sir W. BULLasked whether an Order has been issued by the Army Council that Volunteers enrolled in Section A may, after 1st January, 1918, substitute for their former obligation to attend ten drills a month the obligation to attend thirty drills in each quarter of the year?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONIt has been decided that Volunteers belonging to Sections A, B, and C will in future after being passed as "efficient" be regarded as having fulfilled the obligation entered into by their agreement to perform ten drills of certain kinds each month, if they perform a total of thirty drills of the prescribed kinds each quarter.