§ Commander Maitlandasked the Minister of Labour the number of German prisoners of war who have volunteered to stay on in this country; the number who have been selected to stay; and the percentages which these figures represent of the numbers who have already been repatriated.
§ Mr. ShinwellI have been asked to reply. Some 23,000 prisoners of war have applied to take advantage of the scheme of release to civilian status for agricultural work. The process of selection from among these applicants has not yet been completed but, on 19th January, 7,570 had been accepted. Those who have applied to stay amount to about 10 per cent. of those who have been repatriated and those so far selected to stay amount to 3.3 per cent. approximately.