§ Mr. Rankinasked the Minister of State for Defence whether he will withdraw references to the trade of aircraft technician from literature advertising for recruits to the Armed Forces, in view of the fact that this is now a redundant trade.
§ Mr. LambtonThere is no trade of aircraft technician as such in the Royal Navy but it is not true to say that the trade, or its equivalent, is generally redundant in any of the Services. Some redundancies of individual Army aircraft technicians have occurred because of unforeseen changes in commitments but it has not been feasible to avoid this by ceasing recruitment. To do so would have led to imbalances in the age and rank structure later on and of course the training organisation cannot be stopped and started at will. All three Services have a continuing need for aircraft technicians and their equivalents
Current rates (paid from September, 1970) 1971–72 New rates 1972–73 1973–74 £ £ £ £ London and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge 420 465 480 500 Elsewhere 380 430 445 465 At home 305 345 355 370 College of education students (England and Wales) in residence 170 190 200 210 The starting point on the income scale for parental contributions will be raised from£900 to£1,100, and contributions will be reduced by£10 up to residual income of£1,699.
With effect from September, 1971, equipment grants for medical, dental and veterinary students will be increased by one-third; similar grants up to a maximum of£20 will be paid to students of architecture and ophthalmic optics. A higher rate of grant for extra study will be paid to students at institutions in London than to those elsewhere. Other supplementary grants will be increased to the levels suggested by the Working Group which carried out the first stage of the review. In addition minor changes will be made in the method of assessing 366W and must continue to advertise for them in their recruiting literature.