Mr. T. Morrisasked the Secretary of State for War whether any statistics exist in his Department to show the number of time-expired soldiers who annually obtain civil employment on leaving the Army; whether, in that case, he can make any statement; and, if not, whether he will consider the usefulness of compiling such statistics so as to help the men concerned?
Mr. CooperStatistics of the kind mentioned in the question are maintained at the War Office only in respect of men who undergo courses at Army Vocational Training Centres. Periodical returns of 189W the number of ex-regular soldiers placed in employment through the medium of Ministry of Labour labour exchanges and the National Association for Employment of Regular Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen, are sent by those authorities to the War Office, but such figures are not identifiable with men annually leaving the Colours, as frequent changes in the employment situation of individuals may be reflected many times over in the returns. As regards the last part of the question, I do not appreciate in what manner my hon. Friend thinks the maintenance of such statistics would assist the men to get employment.