§ MR. NORMAN (Wolverhampton, S.)To ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will give a list of the subjects of public interest now being investigated, or to be investigated, by Committees, departmental and otherwise, and Royal Commissions.
(Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) The hon. Member will find in the Estimates for Temporary Commissions a list of the Commissions now sitting. Announcement has already been made of Royal Commissions in respect of the following matters, viz., the St. Louis Exhibition, Food Supply in time of War, and the Militia and Volunteer Services. The lists of Select Committees appointed by the House are printed and posted in conspicuous places in the House of Commons. In addition to the foregoing, a public promise has been made of an inquiry into the constitution and functions of the Board of Trade and the 1223 Local Government Board; but it would not be in accordance with practice, or, indeed, in the public interest, to publish a list of the various departmental committees which from time to time are held in Government Offices. These inquiries frequently relate to questions of administrative detail, and are of a confidential character.