§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether. seeing that in evidence before the Select Committee on Reporting in 1893, the Controller of the Stationery Office gave the number and amounts of the tenders for the Parliamentary Debates in 1889 and 1892, there is any objection to stating the numbers and amounts of the tenders received for the contract commencing with next Session; or whether he will state the amounts of the two highest and the two lowest tenders received.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HAYES FISHER,) FulhamNo, Sir. The usual rule is to treat unaccepted tenders as confidential, and the exception made in the case of evidence before a Select Committee does not constitute a precedent for disclosing them by way of Question and answer in the House of Commons.
§ CAPTAIN NORTONWill the hon. Gentleman state the figure quoted by Messrs. Wyman in their first tender, and was theirs the lowest figure?
§ MR. HAYES FISHERNo, Sir, I do not think I can give that information.
§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will state the circumstances under which the tenders, invited in July last, for the Parliamentary Debates contract were superseded in the following month by new tenders, and what were the nature and significance of the differences between the two forms of tender; and will he explain the reason of the omission from Clause 4 of the tender of the condition contained in the expiring contract, that in obtaining such reports the contractor shall conform to the Resolution passed by the House of Commons on 13th February, 1891, and renewed on 21st March 1893, and of the provision contained in former contracts that the contractor shall have, at all times when either House is sitting, representatives in attendance, capable of reporting in full when necessary.
§ MR. HAYES FISHERThe first form of invitation to tender was withdrawn as, when tenders were received, it appeared that there had been some misunderstanding on the part of some of the tenderers of the intention of the following words appearing in Clause 5: "A tender for one of the Schemes only will be accepted." Two firms misinterpreting the intention submitted tenders for one Scheme only, understanding that they were not at liberty to submit tenders for more. In the form of tender as re-submitted all possibility of misunderstandings of the kind was removed by alteration in the wording. As regards the second Question, Condition 12 of the new Contract requires 1063 that the contractor "shall in all respects conform" to the Resolutions referred to. To speak of them as specially applicable to one part only of the work covered by the Contract seemed to weaken the injunction, and the last words were accordingly struck out of Clause 4. The provision "that the contractor shall have at all times when either House is sitting, representatives in attendance capable of reporting in full when necessary," did not appear either in the Contract with Mr. Bussy, which commenced with the session of 1898, or in the Contract now expiring with Messrs Wyman. It is replaced by the stipulations contained in Clause 4 of the present Contract.
§ CAPTAIN NORTONIs the hon. Gentleman aware that in the former Contract, besides the Fair Wage Resolution being mentioned in Clause 12, it was also specially referred to in Clause 4; that the reporters have only now been given a sort of general protection, whereas formerly they were specially protected?
§ MR. HAYES FISHERI am not aware of that.