asked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he is satisfied that the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service is organised to fulfil a useful function in the defence of the realm; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. Without doubt, the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service makes a valuable contribution to national defence. The members of this spare-time civilian Service are organised and trained to perform important duties in war which would otherwise have to be done by active Service men. The country owes a debt of gratitude to the members of this Service for giving up their time to prepare themselves for these duties.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, with which I agree and which will be well received by the Service, but will he accept the special need for having more up-to-date equipment, especially R.T. sets, as many of the present ones being used are hopelessly out of date and, indeed, are of a type which can be purchased at many surplus stores for a few shillings?

This is largely a question of priorities. We have demands of great complexity for telecommunications equipment for the Fleet and for shore establishments. We are at the moment looking at the problem of equipment for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and I shall try to expedite a decision about it.