§ 5. Dr. Segalasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that a decline of interest in the A.T.C. is prevalent among boys of the upper forms in many schools; and what steps he proposes to take to maintain this interest at a higher level.
§ Mr. StracheyWe could not expect quite the same intensity of interest in school A.T.C.'s as during the war. But we are taking a number of steps to encourage both school and local A.T.C. units. We are issuing a new and broader syllabus which aims at fitting a boy for entry into the R.A.F., the Fleet Air Arm, Civil Aviation or the aircraft industry. We can and will accept every up-to-standard A.T.C. cadet who wishes to join the regular R.A.F. And we can now say that almost every A.T.C. cadet can, if he wants, go into the R.A.F. on his call-up—diversion to the other Services will be quite exceptional. I take this opportunity to repeat that A.T.C. cadets who want to go into the R.A.F. on call-up must go to the Recruiting Centre in their A.T.C. uniforms, must take with them their training progress reports and must say that they want to go into the R.A.F. This does not seem to be fully understood and cadets have been diverted to the other Services because they failed to do these things. I have already told the House of our plans for the integration of the A.T.C. in Reserve Command.