§ Mr. D. SOMERVILLEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War the progress of the scheme put forward by the War Office to the effect that large employers might care to assist in giving some business training to officers of the Army and Navy who have been retrenched under the recent reduction in the fighting services in the interest of national economy; what response has he obtained to this suggestion; and what practical assistance the Government itself is giving to the scheme?
Lieut. - Colonel GUINNESSThe Federation of British Industries have been good enough to interest themselves in this scheme and to recommend it to their members. I am further informed by the Minister of Labour that the Appointments Department, in conjunction with the National Appointments Committee, who prepared the scheme, are making a systematic canvass of the large firms likely to be able to co-operate in it. The success of the proposal must, of course, depend largely on the efforts of the ex-officers themselves and on the particular shape in which individual employers may give their assistance, for which in any event we shall be very grateful.