Mr. LLEWELYN WILLIAMSasked the Under-Secretary of Stale to the Air Ministry whether, in view of the complaint of Lord Rothermere that a great number of excellent officers are engaged in filling up unnecessary forms, he will say if the number of officers in the Department of the Controller-General of Equipment has recently gone up from 110 to 350, and if, whereas the old Equipment Gunnery and Organisation Gunnery of the War Office had only twenty officers, the number in the Directory of Armament, which has taken over the functions of those two Departments, has been raised to 140; and whether these increases were made, with the knowledge and approval of Lord Rothermpre?
§ Major BAIRDThe Department of the Controller-General of Equipment is a new Department formed on the creation of the Air Ministry; which took over equipment responsibilities for both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. The number of officers was 351 573W when the Department was formed, and it is now 317. The policy was to include as many attached officers as possible so as to keep a free hand to reduce as consolidation of Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service services proceeds and decentralisation of services into Air Force areas is arranged. This and other cognate questions in the Air Ministry are being investigated by a strong committee appointed ad hoc. As regards the second part of the question, the gunnery section forms part of the armament branch in the Department of the Director-General of Aircraft Production, who is responsible to the Minister of Munitions.