§ Sir R. Youngasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will state the number of occasions in 1937 on which vacancies for engineer officers were offered to the universities; the number of commissions offered and the number of graduates entered; and why these commissions could not be offered to artificers under the sub-lieutenant (E) scheme, seeing the number of officers entered direct as such under the special entry cadet scheme has been greatly increased?
Mr. CooperTwenty commissions as engineer officers were offered to university candidates on two occasions in 1937, and four appointments were made. Recourse to this method of entry, which produces qualified officers in a minimum of time, has been found necessary in order to meet the urgent requirements resulting from the rapid expansion of the Fleet. As the hon. Member is aware, no limit is1076W placed on the number of commissions offered to artificers of the required standard, and the actual number who obtained commissions during 1937 was greater than for some years previously.