§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will explain the grounds on which the Comptroller and
† See (4) Debates, clxxix., 1810–1.1042 Auditor-General, in accordance with the directions of the Treasury and Lord Chancellor, keeps duplicate records of the Chancery Suitors' Fund Account (England); why the duties of the Comptroller and Auditor-General embrace the keeping of such duplicate records in addition to those of audit, how many clerks are at present employed on the Chancery Suitors' Fund in the Audit Office, and what is the present annual approximate cost; and, apart from duplication of work, what would be the approximate number of men required and the approximate annual cost if the duties of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on this work were confined to audit alone.
§ (Answered by Mr. Runciman.) The number of clerks employed in the Exchequer and Audit Department on the Chancery Suitors' Fund is one superintending officer, five or six examiners,* five abstractors, and one boy clerk, at an annual cost of about £2,260. If the duplicate ledgers were abolished the five abstractors could be dispensed with at an annual saving of about £500. The question of the retention of the duplicate ledgers is at the present time under consideration.