§ Major NEWMANasked the right hon. Member for Barnard Castle, as representing the Ministry of National Service, whether the Director-General, in conjunction with the War Office, has now undertaken the finding of substitutes from men in training reserve and other units who are considered by their commanding officers as unlikely to make efficient soldiers for civilians fit for general service: whether he is aware of the delay and difficulty that has been experienced in getting such inefficient men released from their unit and placed in their appropriate class of the Army Reserve or discharged and made available as substitutes; and will he say what changes is he introducing to accelerate the process of transfer?
§ Mr. BECKMy right hon. Friend has requested me to reply to this question. The selection of men to be released from the Army and the procedure with regard to discharging them or placing them on the Reserve is under the control of the War Office, with whom the Director-General is in consultation with a view to expediting the discharge of men who are found to be physically more suitable for civil than for military employment. As a first step, arrangements have been made whereby C3 men who are surplus to military requirements will be discharged without necessarily being allotted as substitutes.