§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to the high charges for masonry and carpentering work undertaken by the Royal Engineer Department as compared with buildings erected by contract in the open market; and whether the Secretary of State would be prepared to appoint a departmental committee to inquire into the system of control and administration in the department of the Inspector General of Fortifications.
* MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMSIf the hon. Member will furnish any fact or figures tending to support the statement contained in the first paragraph of his question the Secretary of State will willingly cause inquiry to be made upon the subject, but a general assertion such as the hon. Member put forward serves no useful purpose and cannot be accepted. I may inform the hon. Member, however, that the system under which building work is now executed for the War Office is already undergoing review.