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90. Including the sum of £32,000 paid by the Department of Internal Affairs for fire-fighting equipment transferred to its control, the proceeds from the sale of surplus assets totalled £32,295 during the year, and this figure more than offsets the net expenditure of £14,424 by the Department. 91. Emergency Precautions Scheme (£25,046). —The main items of expenditure under this heading were subsidy to 8.P.8. organizations, £15,316, and payment of outstanding accounts for equipment received in earlier years, £4,777. The subsidy figure of £15,316 includes a substantial amount for outstanding claims at 31st March, 1944, but, in addition to this, although the Emergency Precautions Scheme has reverted to a peacetime basis, it has been necessary to continue paying reduced subsidies to the larger E.P.S. organizations on administration costs incurred by them on the disposal of considerable quantities of surplus stores. 92. Proceeds from the sale of surplus E.P.S. assets totalled £8,962, and this figure should be offset against the net expenditure of £25,046 for the year. 93. Home Guard. —The figures under this heading cover the expenditure incurred by the Department for the Home Guard from the time of its inception to 31st July, 1941, when the control was transferred to the Army Department. 94. Industrial Mobilization (£46,435). —Expenditure under this heading includes the payment of financial assistance, travelling-expenses, loss of earnings, and separation allowances to workers directed under the regulations to essential undertakings, reimbursement of travelling-expenses to members of Man-power Utilization Councils and Committees, and special holiday allowances to workers who as the result of direction lost holiday pay which would otherwise have been due to them under the Annual Holidays Act, 1944. 95. The main items of expenditure were financial assistance, £6,737 ; loss of earnings, £1,959 ; separation allowance, £22,391; travelling-expenses, £11,778; special holiday allowance, £1,460; and war workers' hostels, £1,910. 96. Women's Land Service (£s2,B67).—Expenditure under this heading including the cost of uniforms to members of the Service, £31,052 ; uniform upkeep allowance, £15,975 ; travel concessions, £1,282 ; and subsidy, £4,013, paid to approved employers for the training of inexperienced girls. 97. Women's War Service Auxiliary (£1,147 Credit). —Miscellaneous expenditure amounting to £54 only was incurred under this item during the year, but as against this outstanding credits totalling £1,201 were received, making a net credit of £1,147 for the year. Although the Auxiliary is still functioning, the stage has passed where expenditure on uniforms and equipment is necessary. 98. To the above credit of £1,147 should be added the sum of £1,024 the proceeds from the sale of surplus equipment during the year. (iii) Promotion of Employment 99. Details of promotion of employment expenditure are shown in the separate Section dealing with employment-promotion schemes. 100. Table 1 of the Appendix summarizes all expenditure over the last five years. SECTION V. THE POLICY AND ORGANIZATIONAL OUTLOOK (i) Abolition of Controls 101. It was stated in Subsection (v) of Section II of this Part of the report that the Department has administered man-power control as sympathetically and tactfully as possible. 102. A question which is widely asked is how long man-power controls—basically the direction of workers and the restriction of labour inflow to and outflow from undertakings—will continue in force. On this subject it is the plainly declared intention of the Government to abolish man-power control as soon as this can be done without prejudice to the war effort and the rehabilitation of the thousands of men and women still serving with the Forces. 103. It will be evident, however, that man-power controls cannot be abolished overnight, and that the relaxation of these controls must necessarily be effected gradually if disruption of industry during the period of transition from war to peace is to be reduced to an absolute minimum. 104. As indicated elsewhere in this report, the application of wartime man-power controls has been effected under two broad headings : — (а) By means of declarations of essentiality over specified industries or undertakings engaged in the production of essential supplies both for war and civilian purposes and other essential services such as hospitals and transport, &c., in which it was necessary not only to maintain the existing labour force, but to supplement the available personnel by diverting thereto workers from less essential types of employment. Such industries of undertakings have for the most part been those to which workers have been directed. (б) By requiring persons, both male and female, falling within specified age groups or possessing special trade qualifications to register with Man-power Officers so that a reallocation of the available labour force could be effected where necessary to ensure that such labour was employed to the best advantage in the national interest. 105. With the improvement in the war situation, consideration had been directed to the question of how wartime man-power controls could best be raised, and after a close examination of the general situation and the employment position in all important industries and services it was decided that the gradual relaxation of man-power controls could best be effected by progressively exempting from such

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