asked the Minister of Health what rate of pay is granted to a member of the N.H.S. Reserve during the annual 48-hour refresher course.

Trained nurses are paid at the rates appropriate to their grades under Whitley Council agreements. Nursing auxiliaries are paid 1s. 10d. an hour for part-time service and receive free meals on duty. If employed full-time they are paid the appropriate proportion of a full-time salary of £225 a year, assuming they have had no previous full-time service as a nursing auxiliary.

Would my right hon. Friend agree that 2s. 9d. an hour is about the average rate for refresher courses, and since it is, if anything, a little below the rate earned by charwomen, does he think that it is adequate?

All I can say is that the National Hospital Service Reserve is the only one of the Civil Defence services which pays its members for refresher courses.

That is not the point.