§ SIR CHARLES WELBY (Nottinghamshire, Newark)On behalf of the hon. Member for Hythe, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the nature and amount of the expenditure sanctioned by the Treasury to which reference is made in Section 3, paragraph 15, War Office (Reconstitution) Report, Part II.; and whether such expenditure 293 was disapproved of by the military advisers of the War Office.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERThere is no Report of the evidence taken by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee, but I understand that the statement in the Report refers to the erection of a central office at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, which was recommended by an independent Committee, concurred in by the Director-General of Ordnance and approved by the Secretary of State. It appears that there was a difference of opinion between the Military and the Finance Departments as to the source from which the funds should be provided. The Secretary of State, after carefully j considering the question, accepted the view of the Finance Branch. The amount involved was £55,000.
§ SIR CHARLES WELBYAre we to understand that the military authorities approved of the erection of these buildings?
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERsaid that the erection or non-erection of the buildings was not the question. The point was the source from which the money could be obtained and the account in which it could be charged.