66. Mr. ALFRED T. DAVIESasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the admitted practice of many years' standing of permitting the Secretary to the Treasury to sanction the expenditure of public money not already voted by the House of Commons will be abandoned or limited drastically during the coming financial year; and whether any measures are under consideration with that intention?
Lieut.-Commander YOUNGI do not think I can usefully add anything to the answers previously given to my hon. Friend on this subject, of the 16th and 24th March, to my hon. Friend the Member for South East St. Pancras on the 16th December last, and to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Lewisham East on the 22nd March. The practice in question is, and always has been, strictly confined within the narrowest possible limits consistent with the carrying on of His Majesty's Government.
Mr. DAVIESMay I ask whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer will himself give favourable consideration to the matter and not the Deputy of the right hon. Gentleman?
§ Mr. G. LOCKER-LAMPSONCan the hon. and gallant Gentleman see his way to get the Civil Contingencies Fund (Extension) Act, which was only passed for the purposes of the War, done away with: without it they would not be able 448 to have Supplementary Estimates or the asking for money already spent?
Lieut.-Commander YOUNGMy hon Friend is perfectly correct; the extension of the Civil Contingencies Fund was for special purposes connected with the War. When these purposes come to an end, the extension will naturally come to an end.
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSWill my hon. and gallant Friend, who was a financial purist when he sat on these benches, undertake to carry some of these principles into effect now that he has some responsibility?