asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recruits have now been enrolled for Civil Defence in England and Wales up to the last convenient date.

I will publish this information as soon as I have received the recruiting returns for which I have asked.

Is the Minister satisfied with the intake up to the present?

No, I do not expect ever to be satisfied with the intake for this kind of thing.

Does the right hon. Gentleman think that there is any chance of the trend of recruitment being sufficient to satisfy minimum safety requirements?

I should hope so. I do not want to see a great rush of recruits until the instructors and those who will be responsible for what might be called noncommissioned posts have been trained.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that relations between his Department and the War Office are entirely satisfactory on this important matter?

I think that there is no doubt about that.