§ Mr. McENTEEasked the Secretary of State for Air whether civilian recruiters are employed by the Royal Air Force in different centres; whether he is aware that men desirous of entering the force have to come to London and return home, have 1237W afterwards to go to Uxbridge and return home, and then, if passed, have to report once more; and whether, in view of the unnecessary expense involved in so much travelling, arrangements can be made for recruits in the various centres being examined on the spot?
§ Sir S. HOAREThe answer to the first part of the question is that the employment of civilian recruiters, whether in London or elsewhere, ceased as from the 1st instant, for reasons of economy; to the second, that persons wishing to enlist need not make a special journey to London, there being also recruiting facilities at every Royal Air Force station in the United Kingdom and at Glasgow and Birmingham, and that the subsequent journey to Uxbridge is only necessary for recruits who have to pass a trade test; to the last, that the cost of setting up trade test establishments at local centres would be more expensive than the cost of taking the recmits to Uxbridge, which cost, I should add, is in all normal cases borne by public funds, and does not fall on the recruit.