asked the Minister of Defence if he is aware that men who are ready, if called, to join a Home Guard Force, are at present refraining from joining the Civil Defence Corps; and if he will make a statement on the value of Civil Defence training for those who may later transfer to a Home Guard Force.

I hope that in view of the statement that I made on 15th November last, and the amplification of that statement made in another place on 24th January by my noble Friend the Minister of Civil Aviation, it is now well understood that a man's value to the Home Guard would be very much increased by virtue of his having been a trained member of the Civil Defence services.