§ Mr. Parkerasked the First Lord of the Admiralty to what extent the training of ratings of the paymaster's department of the Navy by their own petty officers in ships and establishments has failed and when and how the failure was discovered; and whether the recent establishment of a separate depot for their training is part of a plan for creating appointments for overborne senior accountant officers?
Mr. AlexanderBefore the war, new entries of the Writer and Supply branches were instructed at the naval depots by accountant officers. Owing mainly to accommodation difficulties which have greatly increased during the last year, effective training at the naval depots has ceased to be practicable. Nor has it been possible to train men from the start in seagoing ships in view of the demands that this practice would make upon the time of the senior and more experienced members of ships' complements. It was for these reasons, and not for that suggested by my hon. Friend in the second part of his Question, that the Admiralty decided to concentrate the training of the ratings concerned in a central establishment.