§ MR. FIELDTo ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the 410 President of the Board of Agriculture, whether he can state what means are adopted for the verification of the numbers employed of civilian employees in the Ordnance Survey (Ireland); who is immediately responsible for guarding the public interest in this respect; for what period are the records of payments to civilians and tradesmen, in connection with field parties or sections, retained, and where are they retained.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) Complete lists are kept of every person employed on the survey and the signature of every person to whom pay is issued is obtained. It is the duty of the officers under whom the men are employed to satisfy themselves that the persons to whom pay is issued have been duly employed for the periods covered by the pay lists and at the authorised rates of pay. The vouchers for payments are forwarded to the Comptroller and Auditor-General, by whom they are retained for seven years.