§ Captain WEDGWOOD BENNasked the First Lord of the Admiralty why the demoibilisation of accountant officers, Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, has recently, except in a few cases, been suspended, entailing much inconvenience to the employers of officers who hold appointments in civil life for which their services are urgently required, as well as hardship to the officers themselves; and what steps he proposes to take to secure the immediate release of temporary officers who hold duly certified letters from their employers that their release from naval service is an urgent necessity?
1928W
§ Dr. MACNAMARAEvery case of an accountant officer is decided on its merits, and if the officer is urgently required to return to immediate civil employment, and himself wishes to take up such employment, he is released if it is at all possible for the Service to spare him. It should be remembered, however, that practically all accountant officers are now actually employed on duties connected with demobilisation. They are, in effect, demobilisers and pivotal men for the naval Service, and there is great difficulty therefore in releasing them in any considerable number while the demobilisation of the Navy is in progress. The position, however, is becoming clearer, and it is hoped to release these officers more freely and in increasing numbers in future.