§ Captain Kerbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what percentage of Royal Navy officers who qualified to apply for voluntary early retirement did in fact do so; and what percentage of those officers appyling were permitted to leave Her Majesty's service.
§ Mr. AllanAbout 9,000 officers were eligible. I am afraid I cannot give any details about the applications since an undertaking was given that applications for premature retirement would be treated privately, and if unsuccessful, would not be recorded. As has already been stated, some 1,900 officers are being prematurely retired, of whom over 90 per cent. are volunteers.