§ Mr. Douglasasked the Minister of Labour whether engineering cadetships for which applications were invited in February will be awarded in 1944 as in 1942 and 1943.
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§ Mr. BevinThe scheme of engineering cadetships was introduced in 1942, in order to supplement the supply of young men with suitable qualifications to be trained for technical Commissions in the Forces, and to avoid undue demands upon productive industry for the withdrawal of qualified engineers for this purpose. In February of this year, when it was not possible to know whether the award of further engineering cadetships would be necessary, it was announced that it was proposed, subject to the circumstances then prevailing, to award further cadetships to boys during the autumn of 1944 and applications were invited. The response was good, and a substantial number of these applicants are now being interviewed, in order to determine their suitability. The view now taken, in the light of the development of the war situation and of the latest estimates of the requirements of the Forces, is that the future demands of the Forces will be adequately covered without the need to train further engineering cadets under this scheme. It has accordingly been decided that the Education Departments shall not be asked to award further engineering cadetships this year. Arrangements are, however, being made to complete the interviewing of candidates selected for that purpose, so that applicants enlisted into the Services who had been adjudged to be suitable for engineering cadetships may be specially noted by the Services, with a view to their consideration for training for Commissions in branches of the Services which do not call for engineering qualifications, together with the further possibility of their being sent to Technical Colleges for specialised technical training at a later date, if circumstances should alter and make that desirable.