MR. BELLAIES (Lynn Regis)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that an experiment was at one time tried of making engines in the Government establishments, H.M.S. "Encounter" and some sloops being selected for the purpose, that H.M.S. "Encounter's" completion was delayed in consequence, and her trials were on several occasions unsatisfactory; whether he is also aware that the dockyard machinery of the "Fantome" and "Merlin" cost more than £28,000 in each case, while that obtained by contract for the "Espiegle" of the same class, cost £18,516; and, if so, whether the Board will discourage attempts to substitute work in Government establishments for what is already done economically and efficiently by private firms.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) Engines have been made in the dockyards for His Majesty's vessels, including the "Encounter," and the delay in the completion of her trials is not attributable to this, nor was the manufacture considered solely in the light of an experiment. The question of the relative cost of the machinery of the vessels named was dealt with by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report, 1902–3, page 220, paragraph 8, and also in Report of Public Accounts Committee, 1903, pages 76 and 77. The question as to distribution of work between Government yards and private firms is and will be carefully considered in the placing of orders.