§ Mr. RAPERasked the Secretary of State for Air what are the peculiar qualifications (pre-war) of the following non-service men employed at the Kid-brooke depot which make them indispensable: Messrs. Stenning, Nutt, Dougherty, Glenister, S. Jones, and Rampley; whether Mr. H. W. Biggs, who has been acting in a supervisory capacity, and Mr. H. T. Jones are not competent to fill vacancies in the Department; why they are under notice; if their long service in the Army, rendering them eligible for retired pay, is considered a bar to their retention; whether Mr. Winch, recently transferred to the industrial side, is a competent clerk and able to replace one of the non-service men who are being retained; why the three last-named men, who have served overseas, are not retained, while certain home-service men are retained contrary to the ruling of the joint Substitution Board; and whether, in view of the grave dissatisfaction among ex-service men at this depot, he will have thorough inquiry made with a view to the carrying out of the Lytton Committee's Report in letter and spirit?
Captain GUESTTwo of the six so-called non-service clerks referred to are under notice of discharge. The other four (of whom one had 21 years' pre-war Army service) are being retained, with the full concurrence of the local substitution committee, solely because they are exceptionally efficient and could not be adequately replaced by the three ex-service men named. Efficiency is expressly recognised in the first and third Lytton Reports as a ground for retention, and I can see no case for inquiry here. I may add that the clerical staff at Kidbrooke is being reduced to a total of 134, of whom only three will be non-service men.
§ Mr. RAPERasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the Air Ministry have applied to the Joint Substitution Board for ex-service men to substitute Messrs. R. F. Barlow, G. C. Kennedy, W. Tempest, S. G. Williams, C. B. Clapham, W. G. Dunkley, and E. A. Griffiths; whether the Board have failed to find suitable qualified ex-service men; what are the precise qualifications of these non-service men; how many candidates have been submitted to the Air Ministry as suitable; whether he is satisfied that such candidates were in fact 490W unsuitable; and whether, in view of the greater numbers of technical ex-service men now available, he will make further efforts to place ex-service men in these posts?
Captain GUESTI have been asked to reply to this question. The answer to the first and second questions is in the affirmative; to the third, that the officials in question have technical training and experience in the specialised work upon which they are employed, namely, in the first four cases, aircraft and engine inspection, in the other three cases, aeronautical instrument work; to the fourth, that 28 candidates were considered for the first four posts, and 13 for the other three; to the fifth, in the affirmative; and to the sixth, that efforts to replace the first four officials are being continued, but that, as regards the others, their cases are covered by the last part of the reply given to my hon. Friend on the 15th instant.