§ 59. Mr. C. EDWARDSasked the President of the Board of Education if he will give the total sums of money granted to the Fuel Research Board during the last five years; what proportion of that has been used, and how much for extension purposes; whether the £30, 000 voted by the late Government for expenditure on problems connected with the survey of coal seams has been expended; and what results have been achieved by such expenditure?
The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of EDUCATION (Duchess of Atholl)As the reply to this question contains a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The net amounts included in the estimates of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for fuel research and the net amounts actually expended are as follows:
| Net Estimate. | Net Expenditure. | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| 1922–23 | … | 45, 779 | 46, 772 |
| 1923–24 | … | 32, 540 | 42, 751 |
| 1924–25 | … | 43, 191 | 48, 142 |
| 1925–26 | … | 61, 536 | 76, 147 |
| 1926–27 | … | 91, 863 | 88, 350 |
§ The above figures show that the increase in expenditure considerably exceeds the pound;30, 000 authorised by the late Government. The cost of additional accommodation made necessary by the extension of the work has been borne on the Office of Works' Vote, and is not included in these figures. As regards the results obtained, I may refer the hon. Member to the Annual Reports of the Fuel Research Board and other Reports from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research dealing with fuel research which have been published by His Majesty's Stationery Office.