§ Mr. Ian Harveyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the target figure for recruits under the Government's scheme for Civil Defence.
§ Mr. EdeAt the beginning of March local authorities in England and Wales were asked to aim at enrolling by the end of April at least one additional volunteer for each existing member of the Civil Defence Corps, or such number of additional recruits as would bring the total to one per thousand of population, whichever number was greater. This represented an interim national target of approximately 50,000. Peace-time establishments for the local divisions of the Corps are being prepared and I hope to communicate them to local authorities in the autumn. Fire authorities have been asked to aim at recruiting two auxiliary firemen for every whole-time member of the regular Fire Service and one for every part-time member, making a total of approximately 60,000 auxiliaries in England and Wales. The ultimate requirements of the Fire Service have not yet been settled. The immediate recruiting target for the National Hospital Service Reserve is 30,000 volunteers; but considerably larger numbers will ultimately be required. All the foregoing figures refer to part-time personnel.