§ Mr. Wardasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many persons are employed in his Department; how many are qualified pilots; and, of these, how many have completed more than three hours' solo flying in the last six months.
§ Mr. Strachey:On 1st March, 1946, the number of staff employed in the Air Ministry was 12,406. This figure includes 1,462 R. A. F. officers. I regret that information for reply to the last two parts of the Question is not available. So far as Royal 239W Air Force officers of the General Duties branch are concerned, however I would point out that the regulations which formerly required qualified pilots employed on non-flying duties to carry out at least six hours' flying a year were amended last September. These officers are now required to keep themselves in flying practice unless the nature of their duties makes it impracticable to do so.