asked the Under-secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that there is widespread dissatisfaction amongst education officers in the R.A.F. who find themselves ineligible for gratuities which are granted to other categories, CD. services, the Royal Observer Corps, etc.; and whether he will take steps to remedy this injustice.

War gratuities are paid, on a reduced scale, to members of the Royal Observer Corps, because the remuneration of Observers was related to the rates of pay of the armed forces. A similar consideration applied to certain members of the Civil Defence Services, but there is no such relation in the case of members of the Royal Air Force Educational Service.