The Government believe, moreover, that our Estimates give a large amount of information that was not formerly given to Members of Parliament; and if my noble Friend and those who think with him will co-operate with Her Majesty's 974 Government on the lines I have mentioned, I believe we shall be able to secure a continuity of policy that will include the permanent maintenance both of establishment and stores and of those reserves which are essential to the efficiency of the Services, but, above all, to a Service like the Navy, upon the prompt and effective discharge of whose duties, in Some Unforeseen Crisis, may depend the commercial interests and success of the Empire.

It seems to me, in considering the proposals contained in the White Paper, that we must regard them not as a sudden expedient because of Some Unforeseen Crisis, but as a long-term plan which may have to last over a period of years.

I feel so strongly that local authorities are a place of last resort for people who are destitute and who must be able to access immediate support when Some Unforeseen Crisis has occurred.