Major LLOYD GEORGEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he can give an estimate of the number of civilians who will find employment at Pembroke Dock in the establishment of the air base; and whether, in all cases where employment is found, preference will be given to local men who are at present unemployed through the closing of the dockyard?
§ Mr. MONTAGUEAs regards the first part of the question, the total number of civilians who will be directly employed by the Air Ministry at Pembroke is not likely at first to exceed 40, rising to 60 or 70 as soon as an Air Force unit is stationed there, which cannot be for some time to come. Some indirect employment may result, before an Air Force unit arrives, from work on structural adaptations, and afterwards from the ordinary local requirements of the unit, but I do not feel able to forecast what the number so employed would be. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative as regards direct employment by the Air Ministry.