§ Mr. HORE-BELISHAasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the power which formerly was vested in the Admiralty alone to discharge workmen from His Majesty's dockyards has been resumed by the Admiralty, or whether the power is still delegated to local dockyard authorities to dismiss up to 2 per cent. in any department without informing the Admiralty?
§ Mr. AMMONThe hon. Member is under a misapprehension. In modern times, at any rate, the Admiralty has never reserved to itself alone the power of discharging workmen from the dockyards. At the present time discharges are authorised by the local officers, but discharges of more than 2 per cent, of the total number employed in any department, or more than 10 in all in departments with less than 500 workpeople, are specially reported to the Admiralty before the issue of notices.