96.
asked the Minister of Labour at what he estimates the total number of men who will register for National Service during the financial years 1950–51, 1951–52 and 1952–53, respectively; and whether he will state in detail, including the number of unfit, deferred and postponed, how these totals are related to the figures shown in paragraph 27 of Command Paper No. 7895 (Statement on Defence, 1950).
Owing to the inevitable time lag between registration for National Service and availability for calling up, the number of men available for calling up
| 1950–51 | 1951–52 | 1952–53 | ||||
| Numbers due to register in the relevant age class. | 292,000* (1932 Age Class) | 277,000* (1933 Age Class) | 285,000* (1934 Age Class) | |||
| Men who may be granted deferment:— | ||||||
| Agricultural workers, coalminers and seamen | 32,000 | 29,000 | 29,500 | |||
| Apprentices | 70,000 | 70,000 | 71,000 | |||
| Students | 8,000 | 7,500 | 8,000 | |||
| Men who may be granted postponement on grounds of exceptional hardship, conscientious objectors, etc. | 3,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 | |||
| Wastage after registration (largely men who volunteer for the Services after registration). | 12,000 | 11,500 | 11,500 | |||
| Medically unfit for service | 35,000 | 32,500 | 33,500 | |||
| 160,000 | 153,000 | 156,000 | ||||
| Immediate yield from registrations | 132,000 | 124,000 | 129,000 | |||
| Men from earlier age classes available for calling up on expiry of deferment, postponement, etc.— | 45,000 | 57,000 | 57,000 | |||
| Total numbers likely to be available for calling up | 177,000 | 181,000 | 186,000 | |||
* The numbers due to register in the respective Financial Years are slightly different as follows:
1950–51
| 1951–52
| 1952–53
|
| 288,000 | 279,000 | 285,000 |
The above estimates are based on the latest available information but must be regarded as approximations only. The numbers who may be granted deferment, in particular, cannot be predicted with any great degree of accuracy.