§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, having regard to the 681 ultimate purchase by the local authorities within the period fixed by Parliament, in pursuance of the powers given him under the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation Acts granted by Parliament to companies in the administrative county of London, he will appoint as auditor of the accounts of such undertakings the auditor of the Local Government Board, who already audits the electric lighting accounts of the boroughs holding Orders within such area; or whether he will take steps to assimilate the two systems of audit in order to secure a uniform and reliable basis of comparison.
(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) So long as an electric lighting undertaking is carried on by a company, I do not consider that any advantage would be gained by making the accounts of the undertaking subject to a Local Government Board audit. The latter part of my hon. friend's Question seems to suggest that the forms of account prescribed by the Board of Trade require alteration. Those forms were settled after consultation with competent authorities, and the Board of Trade have not received any representations that they are in any way defective.