§ Mr. Parkerasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give the reasons for the reduction of accountant warrant officers in this year's Navy Estimates, observing that six other branches of warrant officers are to be increased; and whether he will state how many of the increase of 67 accountant commissioned officers are to be cadet and reserve entries, respectively, and how many from accountant warrant officers?
§ Mr. ShakespeareI regret that owing to a clerical error certain incorrect figures are shown in the "Analysis of Vote A" on page 12 of the Navy Estimates, 1938. Owing to an oversight, Paymaster Midshipmen of over one year's seniority, who are normally shown amongst subordinate officers, were counted in amongst the commissioned officers. The correct figures should, therefore, be:
Commissioned accountant officers—560 not 600.
Subordinate accountant officers—131 not 91.
If this correction is made, the increase in commissioned accountant officers is from 533 in 1937 to 560 in 1938, which is accounted for by the transfer of 27 Reserve officers who were not provided for in the 1937 Estimates.
As regards the apparent reduction in accountant warrant officers from 117 in 1937 to 110 in 1938, I would point out that at the time of the preparation of the 1937 Estimates it was thought that 117 2129W would be borne by 31st March, 1938. It has since been proved that this figure was an over-estimate and will not be reached by the end of the present financial year. At the present time no warrant officers are borne.