HC Deb 22 March 1906 vol 154 cc639-40
MR. CLAUDE HAY

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the Secretary to the Board of Education is a director of the Tower Tea Company, Limited; whether the Secretary to the Board of Trade is a director of the International Tea Company's Stores, Limited; whether the Paymaster - General is the chairman of, or a director of, Sir Joseph Causton & Sons, Limited; whether these companies are private companies; and whether he has satisfied himself that these companies have not tendered for the supply of goods to any department of the public service.

SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

I am imformed that information as to the directors of companies may be obtained at Somerset House on payment of the very moderate fee of a shilling per company. Another source of information is a volume entitled "The Directory of Directors," for which I am afraid I cannot with the best will in the world claim to be an adequate substitute. However, as I am anxious to save the hon. Gentleman any unnecessary trouble and expense I may tell him at once that my hon. friend the Secretary to the Board of Education is not a director of the Tower Tea Company, that my hon. friend the Under-Secretary to the Board of Trade is not a director of the International Tea Company's Stores. The company of which my right hon. friend the Paymaster-General is a director is a private family company. Whether the companies named in the Question have tendered for public contracts I do not know, but no doubt the hon. Gentleman can ascertain if he puts himself into communication with the various departments.

MR. CLAUDE HAY

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will define the private companies of which he deems it proper that Ministers of the Crown should hold directorships.

SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

It is impossible to give a definition in precise terms. What is meant is that class of company in which the interest of the Minister, if a director, is substantially the same as the interest of a partner in a business firm.