Major Hicks Beachasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will consider taking appropriate steps to initiate varying the terms of the Royal Warrant governing the award of the Territorial Decoration so as to ensure that a break in service does not debar the award of this decoration where the qualifying period of service in total has been served.
§ Mr. HeadThe requirement of continuous service, together with that of attendance at a specified number of parades and camps, was introduced in 1949 as a corollary of the reduction in the qualifying period for the Territorial Efficiency Decoration from 20 years to156W 12 years. I think that to relax these provisions would detract from the value of this decoration and no change is contemplated.