§ 62. Mr. LAMBERTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the inefficient organisation of the staff of the Food Ministry, as disclosed by Sir John Bradbury's Committee, has been remedied; and is the cost of this staff borne by the Vote of Credit or on the food controlled by the Department?
Mr. ROBERTSI have been asked to reply. If the hon. Member will refer to the Report in question, he will find it stated that the inspectors appointed by the Committee "gave it as their deliberate opinion that the Ministry of Food did not, so far as overhead charges were concerned, in regard to the commodities with which it deals, compare unfavourably with a large commercial firm," and that "viewing the Department as a whole, it appeared to them that it was conducted in a fair and businesslike way, having regard to the difficulties of the subject-matter and of getting together an efficient staff."As regards the last part of the question, selling prices are so arranged as to provide a margin sufficient to cover the estimated costs of the administration of the Ministry of Food.