§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)I beg to ask the Secretary of State what are the actual steps which the War Office has taken in the direction of giving effect to the recommendations of Sir James Stephen's Commission as to the appointment of a Commission to lay down a standard as to the amount of stores which should be kept in hand for the Public Service; the publication of Annual Tables showing how the existing stores stand in relation to that standard; and the publication by the chief of the Ordnance Department of an annual statement showing what stores he considered necessary for the Public Service during the current year; and if such publication is considered inconvenient, whether similar Returns or Statements are annually made to the War Office and duly recorded for future reference?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThe supply of stores to be held in reserve could not be settled once for all by a Commission, because the stores necessarily vary, both in their nature and in amount, according to the varying requirements of the Service. Sir James Stephen's Commission, while recommending the appointment of a Commission for this purpose, was aware of the difficulty of carrying out their own suggestion, as will be seen by their remarks in paragraph 200 of their Report. The question, however, has not been overlooked; and in 1891 my predecessor proposed to the Treasury to present yearly to Parliament a certificate under his hand that the reserves of stores had not been depleted. The Treasury thought, however, that this would not, in effect, be more than an anticipation of the statement which since 1883 has been appended each year to the Appropriation Account, and which shows the value of the stores in hand at the end of the year as compared with the corresponding value at the end of the preceding year, The responsibility for the stores actually in hand must, of course, rest with the Secretary of State for the time being. As a matter of fact, I am assured that an 1150 ample supply of stores exists for the equipment of a mobile force as well as for the immediate purposes of home defence.
§ MR. HANBURYDo I understand the right hon. Gentleman to say that his predecessor recommended that the document should be presented at the beginning of each financial year?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANYes, Sir; and we thought it would only be an anticipation of a more accurate statement.
§ MR. HANBURYI shall ask for further information as to this.