§ Mr. RAPERasked the Secretary of State for Air how many men are employed in the accountant's section of the Stores Branch, Royal Air Force; how many of this total quantity have been pilots and/or observers; how many are non-service men; and whether it would have been possible to have filled all vacancies in this section with ex-pilots and/or ex-observers?
Captain GUESTIt is assumed that the question refers to officers granted commissions in the Stores Branch of the Royal Air Force for accountant duties; the men employed in this work are ordinary enlisted clerks of the Royal Air Force. On this assumption, the answer to the first question asked is 99 officers, to the second, 10 officers, and to the third, none. With regard to the last question, it was not considered desirable, in view of the need for obtaining officers with the best accountant experience in the interests of economy and efficiency, to restrict entry to ex-pilots and ex-observers, to the exclusion of other candidates from the three Services who possessed the necessary qualifications.