§ Mr. Nuttingasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air why releases of officers in the equipment branch of the R.A.F. have only been promulgated as far as group 27 by 30th June; and whether he will take steps to ensure that releases from this branch are brought into line with general releases from the R.A.F. in the near future.
§ Mr. de FreitasWe shall be releasing equipment officers in groups 27 and 28 during June. As my predecessor said in reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Dumfries (Major Macpherson) and the hon. Member for Midlothian and Peebles, Northern (Lord John Hope) on 27th March, these officers have specially heavy responsibilities at present and we depend largely on their experience for the proper disposal of large quantities of valuable equipment; moreover, a very high proportion of equipment officers are in groups 20–29. We are doing all we can to improve the position by training every suitable general duties officer who can be made available and by commissioning more airmen. The position should progressively improve after July but I am afraid that I cannot forecast at this stage when the release of equipment officers will be brought up to the general level.