§ Mr. Maginnisasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average cost per man to train each flight cadet at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, for the general duties, technical, equipment, and secretarial branches, respectively, of the Royal Air Force at the latest convenient date; and what were the equivalent figures for 1950 and 1960.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesFor 1966, the costs per cadet are as follows:
£ General Duties (pilot) 48,000 General Duties (navigator) 37,000 Engineer Branch (cadet phase only) 19,000 Equipment Branch 14,000 Secretarial Branch 14,000 I regret that the figures for 1950 are not available. Such figures as we have for 1960 would, I fear, be misleading, as their precise basis and content is not now 370W clear, and as there have been changes in the nature of the course and aircraft since then.
§ Mr. Maginnisasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many flight cadets in C, humanities, stream of numbers 81, 82 and 83 entries at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, successfully completed external Bachelor of Arts degrees at the University of London; what percentage this represented of the candidates; and what percentage of the successful candidates are now serving officers in the Royal Air Force.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe figures are:
Entry No. Studied for B.A. Successful 81 6 3 82 — — 83 4 4 10 7 All seven successful candidates are now serving in the Royal Air Force.
§ Mr. Maginnisasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the average percentage of flight cadets at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, who successfully completed their courses, as compared with their initial entry, at the latest convenient date; what were the equivalent percentages for 1951, 1956, and 1960; and whether he is satisfied that the initial selection procedure is sufficiently rigorous.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe information is as follows:
Graduation Successful Completion of Courses per cent. 1951 (3 courses) … 83.3 1956 (2 courses) … 69.5 1960 (2 courses) … 65.4 1965 (2 courses) … 83.9 1966 (1 course) … 78.3 The above figures would indicate that the current initial selection procedure is sufficiently rigorous, but we are always trying to improve it.