§ 111. Mr. LYONSasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he can give the number of British-made and foreign-made typewriters, respectively, used in the Departments of the Govern- 519 ment; and whether he will issue an order that all future renewals and replacements of typewriters and typewriter parts must be of British manufacture exclusively?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThere are in the public service about 8,000 British-made typewriters, and about 17,000 foreign-made ones. It is, and has been for some years, the declared policy of the Stationery Office to purchase only British-made typewriters, excepting a small number of machines of special character for which no suitable British-made substitutes exist. The bulk of the foreign-made machines still in use were purchased during or immediately after the War, when satisfactory British alternatives were not available. They are gradually being replaced, but so long as they remain in service, spare parts are best obtained from the manufacturers, and may therefore be of foreign origin.