HC Deb 13 December 1946 vol 431 cc298-9W
Mr. Jeger

asked the Minister of Labour whether he will now make a statement regarding the future of the scheme for release from the Forces in Class B.

Mr. Isaacs

The Class B release scheme has now, in the main, fulfilled the purpose for which it was intended. It was essentially an interim measure designed to make available a nucleus of skilled workers and key men to the reconstruction industries pending large-scale demobilisation. By the end of this month about 4,300,000 men and women will have been released or discharged from the Forces since June, 1945, and, therefore, subject to such special arrangements as may be necessary in 1947 for certain students, offers of release in Class B will in future be restricted to a limited number of key individuals, including experienced underground miners and experienced agricultural workers, who are shown to be really urgently required. Such release will not normally be granted to men called up after the end of the war in Europe.