§ Sir R. Glynasked the Secretary of State for Air how many R.A.F. personnel and civilians are now engaged in the collection of R.A.F. material as a preliminary to the sale of such material; and what arrangements have been made to speed up these disposals and thus release considerable numbers of persons for productive work.
§ Mr. A. HendersonAbout 6,800 members of the R.A.F. and 4,400 civilians of my Department are employed in the United Kingdom on the collection and sorting of R.A.F. war surplus stores. It is not possible to estimate how, many are employed on similar duties overseas, where the disposal of surplus stores is part of the general task of dealing with wartime stocks. During recent months a number of changes of procedure have been agreed with the disposal departments to speed up the clearing of stocks32W no longer needed by the R.A.F. For example, both the declaration of surpluses and their acceptance by the disposal departments has been largely decentralised; only a very small proportion of surpluses is now reported to the headquarters of the disposal departments. Arrangements have also been made to sell the great bulk of surplus stocks by auction at the storage sites. I would add that I attach great importance to the completion of this work, since many of the stores are a useful addition to the goods available to industry and the general public. It does not, of course, necessarily follow that all the men employed on these duties will be discharged when the work comes to an end.