HC Deb 18 August 1919 vol 119 cc1895-6
37. Colonel GRETTON

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if a full statement of all the costs of the British Mission to the Peace Conference at Paris will be furnished to the end of the quarter, 30th September?

Mr. HARMSWORTH

The statement requested by the hon. and gallant Member will be furnished as soon after the close of the quarter as possible, but an interval must necessarily elapse as information will have to be collected from the several Departments by whom expenditure on account of the Peace Conference has been incurred.

Colonel GRETTON

Will the cost be presented to Parliament when the estimates are ready for the remaining charges and the cost is asked to be voted?

Mr. HARMSWORTH

I understand that the cost will appear in several different Votes, because the delegates at the Paris Conference were not all representatives of the Foreign Office.

Colonel GRETTON

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that the object of this question is to secure a complete statement, and not to have a number of statements scattered among ordinary Votes?

Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKER

The hon. Gentleman should put a question to the Treasury on that point.

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