§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give an assurance that he will not, over the next five years, change the system of employing retired officers within his Department; and if he will ensure that there will not be a significant change in the numbers so employed.
§ Mr. SpeedThere are no plans to change the system of employing retired officers within the Ministry of Defence, but the numbers so employed must be subject to normal complementing criteria and to the constraints placed upon civilian manpower as a whole.