§ Sir A. HOLBROOKasked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that men of the Electrical Work Service Company, attached to the Royal Air Force at Weyhill, Andover, are being discharged, many of them with less than one year's service to complete, with a bounty of only £1 for each year of service; that these men, some of who are married and have families, are compelled to go on the Unemployment Exchange list in order to subsist; and whether he will consider the possibility of utilising the services of these men at other stations?
§ Sir S. HOARE:My hon. and gallant Friend has been misinformed. No men of the Electrical Services Works Company have been discharged, and no reason for their applying to the Unemployment Exchange has therefore arisen. The facts are that it has been decided to disband the company as an Air Force unit and to reconstitute it on a civilian basis, but the precise arrangements have not yet been finally settled. It is probable that most of the men already serving in the company who are suitably qualified will be taken on as civilians, or if they cannot be 33W absorbed in this way, will be remustered to another Air Force trade to complete their engagements. Only the men who are unsuitable or unwilling to be dealt with in one or other of these ways will be discharged as surplus to requirements, receiving the gratuity of £1 for each year of service as provided by regulations. It is probable that most of the men will be absorbed or remustered and that the discharges will be few.