Notwithstanding the strengthening of the Air Force referred to, the cost of the personnel at home is not increased. This is due to a variety of causes, among which the most important are (a) that the new service units now forming will also be used for flying training; (b) that the terms of service of various officers and airmen are being extended, thus reducing the cost of training new entrants; and (c) that additional personnel has been made available by a closer adjustment to requirements of the numbers in each trade. The total required for Works and Buildings has also been kept below that for the present year, notwithstanding that considerable provision has to be made for the accommodation of new units. The Boys' Training Establishment at Halton, which is the largest building item hitherto undertaken for the Air Force, is approaching completion. The increase on the total net Estimates is almost wholly accounted for by the increase on Vote 3, the Vote for Technical Equipment. The war stocks upon which the Air Force has been living to a large extent since the Armistice are now becoming exhausted, and an increase in the cost of maintaining existing squadrons is therefore inevitable. The greater part of the increased provision is, however, required for equipment for the new squadrons. The demand coincides with the maturing of a number of new types, which have passed through the various stages of design and experiment in the last few years, and are shortly about to be put into production. As previously explained, Vote 3 now covers the provision of technical equipment for research and experiment as well as for the equipment of service units, and it is intended that the line between service and experimental types shall not be drawn so definitely as in the past, and that in future the first stages of service use shall coincide in many cases with the final stages of trial. This policy should result in the earlier standardisation of types. It will be clear from the foregoing that the orders which the Air Ministry will place with the aircraft industry during the forthcoming year will be substantially greater than in recent years. The industry has been passing through very lean times, and the paramount claims of national economy have made it very difficult for the Air Ministry to give it the assistance which its value to the State might have seemed to justify. There is every reason to anticipate that from now on the orders placed by the Air Ministry in ordinary course and on a strict estimate of requirements will be sufficient to maintain an adequate number of firms on a sound and stable basis. Design and research are being continued in the development of existing, and the evolution of new, types, both civil and service. The money provision for this purpose (see Appendix 2, page 71, of the Air Estimates) is approximately the same as last year. Particular attention is being directed to the improvement of the machinery for co-ordinating and utilising the activities of the various institutions engaged in pure research on aeronautics. (5)19696 Wt 30118 5834 1875 3/23 Provision under Vote 8 for Civil Aviation is made on the same basis as last year-i.e., for the continuation of existing crosschannel subsidies, and for existing commitments in ground organisation, &c. The nature and extent of the assistance to be rendered by the State in future to Civil Aviation is engaging my close attention, and the fact that these Estimates merely embody the status quo in this respect must not be taken as necessarily implying that this represents the permanent policy of the Government. Such developments as are under consideration will not, so far as can be foreseen, involve, if approved, substantial expenditure before the financial year 1924-25. It may be added that the arrangements contemplated for the formation of a Reserve of officers and for their training should be of indirect benefit to the civil industry. The efforts which have been made in previous years to reduce the staff of the Air Ministry have been continued, and a reduction of over £30,000 in the Headquarters Vote has been effected. The remanets of war work have, however, nearly disappeared, and economies due to improvement in organisation and efficiency tend to be offset by the greater demands which are being made on the Department in various directions. Large or rapid reductions in this Vote are consequently not now to be expected. As stated in the first paragraph of this memorandum, the gross total of Air Estimates includes a figure of £5,957,000 for expenditure in respect of Middle East Services. This does not affect the net total, since under existing arrangements the total cost of Middle East Services is voted in the Civil Service Estimates, and the debits against Air Votes are balanced by equivalent Appropriations-in-Aid. Excluding a provision of £916,000 for supplies to British and Indian ground troops, &c., the remaining £5,041,000 represents Air expenditure proper, and also the cost of works and ancillary services on behalf of both the Air Force and the ground troops. These latter charges are not specifically apportioned between the different arms, since all are ultimately met by the Colonial Office. Of the sum of £5,041,000, £772,000 is provided for Palestine and Transjordania and £4,269,000 for Iraq. The provision under Air Votes for 1922-23 was £765,000 and £2,968,000 respectively. The Iraq figures for the two years are, however, not comparable, since certain services taken over from the Army have only been charged against Air Votes from the 1st October 1922. The strength of the Air Force in the Middle East for which provision is made in the two years is approximately the same; the reduction which it had been hoped to effect by this time in the ground forces has not yet matured. Owing to the delay which has occurred in the settlement with Turkey the provision for the current year has proved insufficient. It is still not possible to reduce the provision for next year to the extent which was intended; a satisfactory settlement would lead to a progressive reduction. While the pay and allowances of British and Indian ground troops do not affect Air Votes, the corresponding ancillary services, &c., as explained above, swell the gross figures. The uncertainty of the political and military situation in the Middle East has made the work of estimating this year one of extreme difficulty. The provision proposed is not based on any optimistic hypothesis. Every endeavour will, however, be made to reduce the cost of defence services in Iraq to an absolute minimum, irrespective of the provision made in Estimates. AIR MINISTRY, SAMUEL HOARE. Printed under the authority of HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONARY OFFICE 0 19696 B APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT, 1921-22. APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT of the SUMS granted by PARLIAMENT for AIR SERVICES for the Year ended 31 March 1922, together with the REPORT of the COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL thereon, and upon the STORE ACCOUNTS of the AIR SERVICES. ALSO STATEMENT of the SURPLUSES and DEFICITS upon the GRANTS for AIR SERVICES for the Year ended 31 March 1922, showing all cases in which the Air Ministry has obtained the sanction of the Treasury to expenditure not provided for in the grants for that year, together with copies of the representations made to the Treasury by that Ministry; also the Balance Sheet showing the ledger balances on 30 September 1922, the date on which the Account of Receipt and Expenditure for the Year 1921-22 was closed. (Presented pursuant to Acts 29 & 30 Vict. c. 39, s. 22, Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed. 13 March, 1923. LONDON: PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses:-Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, and 28 Abingdon Street, London, S. W.1; 37 Peter Street, Manchester; 31. 1 St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; or 120 George Street, Edinburgh. Price 3s. Od. net. |