§ Mr. FOOTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, having regard to the grave hardship which is being caused by the naval reductions, he will reconsider the method of selection of ratings for discharge, so that discharges, if necessary, might be made from the whole Navy, and not from establishments and ships in home waters only?
§ Commander EYRES-MONSELL:Discharges have been proceeding since last May, and the great majority of these have been made from the Fleet as a whole. It is only the last few hundred, whom it is necessary to discharge before the end of the financial year, who are being selected at home. Time will not permit of a wider choice.
§ Mr. FOOTasked the First Lord of the Admiralty the principles upon which he is proceeding in the selection of ratings for discharge from the Navy; and the number of men of the respective rating, who are being discharged?
§ Commander EYRES-MONSELL:The selection of ratings for compulsory discharge are being made on the following general principles:
- (a) Pensioners on Vote A, "Detained" men, who on or before the 2nd February, 1923, had completed their engagements but had not re-engaged, and men Who had only undertaken to complete a commission, are without any question of selection to be discharged before all others.
- (b) Ratings of the classes described in (1), (2), and (3) of Section C of Admiralty Fleet Order 1359/22, are to be discharged next, those men who are the least desirable to retain as regards conduct and ability being selected in preference to others.
- (c) The remaining ratings for discharge should be selected from the classes enumerated in Section A and B of
74 Admiralty Fleet Order 1359/22, those who are the least desirable to retain as regards conduct and ability being selected in preference to the others. The actual number of men who will be compulsorily discharged is not yet known, but will probably be between 700 and 800. This number compares with voluntary discharges of over 11,000, and is a far smaller proportion than in the case of officers, of whom 608 will have been compulsorily retired out of a total of about 1,750.