§ 46 and 47. Lieut.-Colonel Hydeasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air (1) if he has considered petitions submitted to him by civilian employees of Royal Air Force maintenance units concerning the dilutee problem; how many signatures there were on these petitions; what proportion of the total number of aircraft engineering workers employed by the Department were represented; and what action he proposes to take;
(2) in view of signatures on petitions which he has received from civilian employees of Royal Air Force maintenance units, to what extent the fully skilled engineering craftsmen employed by his Department are in favour of deregistration of dilutee craftsmen who have had five years' skilled experience.
Mr. WardThe 11 petitions which I have received bear some 1,500 signatures, representing about 32 per cent. of the total number of aircraft engineering workers employed at maintenance and other units of the Royal Air Force. I cannot say how many of our fully skilled engineering craftsmen are in favour of de-registration of dilutees, but 16 per cent. of them have signed the petitions. Negotiations on the dilutee problem have, of course, been going on for some time, and we are doing all we can to find a solution.