asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will consider the serious inconvenience occasioned to members of the Air Force Emergency Reserve by the receipt of notices to hold themselves in readiness to act promptly on receipt of specific instructions when these notices are still outstanding after months of waiting; and whether he is aware that in many instances arrangements have been long unnecessarily made in respect of the transfer of businesses, etc.?

I regret the inconvenience to which the hon. Member refers and that it has been possible to find employment for a proportion only of those who have patriotically offered their services in the Officers' Emergency Reserve. At the outbreak of war there was a considerable number of members of this Reserve who had not been interviewed or assigned to a war appointment and the work of disposing of these applications and the many others which have since been received has necessarily taken time. The review is now practically complete; most of the members of the Reserve have been informed whether or not there is any prospect of being able to take advantage of their offer of service and the remainder will be so informed in the very near future.

Does the Minister appreciate how serious it is when a man who has a business and wishes to transfer it can make no arrangements of that kind and may have to remain waiting for six or seven months whilst somebody else is running his business?

Yes, Sir. I do appreciate that fact.