§ Mr. Hollisasked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that the Section Officer at Chippenham and the Station Engineer at Keevil, in rejecting a recent application for employment from the ex-Servicemen at Keevil aerodrome, quoted A.M.O. 324/45 para. 3 (f), which they interpreted as meaning longest civilian service at one aerodrome and as forbidding them to give any consideration to service in the R.A.F.; whether this interpretation has been officially approved; and if he will make it clear that men who have served in the R.A.F should have preference over those who did not.
§ Mr. A. HendersonI think there must be some misunderstanding regarding 123W these men. A.M.O. A324/45 deals with the procedure for discharging industrial employees when a station is reduced or closed down, not with applications for employment. R.A.F. Station Keevil, has, in fact, been closed down and all industrial employees had been discharged by 3rd February, 1948. The order of discharge is based broadly on the principle of "last in, first out," and service in His Majesty's Forces does not count unless the individual was employed by the Air Ministry before he went into the Forces. I regret that I cannot depart from the terms of this agreement, the principle of which is common to all Government establishments.