§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTON (Tower Hamlets, Poplar)I beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he has been informed that Mr. Chappell, the contractor for the new Post Office Buildings, St. Martin's-le-Grand, has sub-let a portion of the stone work to the Steam Moulding Works, Battersea, and that he has also sub-let the King Edward Street front to Messrs. Smith and Taylor; whether this is in conformity with the specifications, that no work shall be sub-let without his written sanction; and if sanction has been given to this sub-letting, why it has been so given?
§ MR. PLUNKETThe sub-lettings referred to have been made by Mr. Chappell with written consent from me. The consent was given solely for the purpose of expediting the works, which had been much retarded by the prolonged frost of December and January. The extent of work sub-let was carefully limited, and in neither case goes beyond the ground floor; and an intimation was given that no further portion of the stone-work would be permitted to be sub-let.