HC Deb 28 November 1933 vol 283 cc698-9
77. Mr. MANDER

asked the Lord President of the Council if he will state the amount of money spent, and the proportion of time devoted, by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Medical Research Council, during the past three years, to work for the Army, Navy and Air Force?

The LORD PRESIDENT of the COUNCIL (Mr. Baldwin)

The cost of investigations carried out by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for the War Office, the Admiralty and the Air Ministry is recovered from these Departments respectively, as is shown by the estimates of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The cost of such work in each of the last three financial years was as follows:

Year ending 31st March. Cost of Work for Defence Departments (recovered from them).
1931 £38,734
1932 £39,174
1933 £39,793
Approximately 80 per cent of these amounts was recovered from the Air Ministry in respect of the work of the Aerodynamics Department of the National Physical Laboratory, which is directed mainly to the study of the science of aviation generally and the results of which are applicable to both Civil and military aviation. The proportion of the time of the staff of the Department devoted to such work in each year is approximately 7 per cent. No expenditure has been incurred by the Medical Research Council exclusively for the purposes of the Admiralty, War Office or Air Ministry. Such occasional investigations as have been undertaken at the suggestion of those Departments have been of wider interest and the results are available for general use.