§ Major Wyattasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will make a full statement as to how demobilisation in the Navy operates, as the forecast that groups up to release group 45 will be demobilised from the Navy by June, 1946, does not show a true picture.
Mr. AlexanderThe statement issued by the Ministry of Labour and National Service on 2nd October showed that the Navy should complete the release of ratings in Group 30 and have started on Group 31 by the end of the year and, by June, 1946, would have completed Group 45. An explanatory statement issued by the Ministry on 16th October made it clear that these Groups are average, and that there would be considerable variation between the various branches. The dispersal of some rating groups will be ahead of the schedule, while other branches, particularly the Regulating, Engine-room, Sick Berth and Supply and Secretariat Branches, will fall short of the schedule.
The average planned rate of release of officers is Group 20 by the end of this year and Group 32 by June, 1946, but the release of Engineers, Instructors, Supply and Secretariat and some categories of Warrant Officers will be slower. There will be similar variation in the rate of release of W.R.N.S.; the branches in which release will be slower are principally the Supply and Secretariat, Administrative, Switchboard operators and M.T. drivers.
This difference in the rate of release between the various categories of officers and ratings results from the need to maintain a balanced Navy to carry out the many tasks which remain to be completed.