§ 17. Mr. John Morrisasked the Minister of State for Defence why, following correspondence with his Department, the right hon. Member for Aberavon was informed only in a letter dated 19th April, 1971, that a constituent had been discharged from the Royal Navy, whereas in fact the said constituent had been sent on terminal leave on 22nd February, 1971, his last day on naval pay being 22nd March, 1971, and that a letter from the Under-Secretary of State for the Navy stated this fact without any explanation for the delay.
§ Mr. KirkIt is normal practice in cases where the discharge of a naval rating has been the subject of Parliamentary as well as official correspondence, for the Department to notify the final decision to the naval authorities and the Member of Parliament simultaneously. 143W I regret that this procedure was not followed on this occasion. This was due to human error and I apologise for the fact that the right hon. Member was not informed of his constituent's discharge until some weeks after the event.