§ 12. Mr. MANDERasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air what action is being taken as a result of the criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor-General concerning the large number of contracts, exceeding £5,000,000, placed by the Air Ministry without competition, and with further reference to other cases in Iraq where the lowest tender was rejected?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Philip Sassoon)These matters will be investigated shortly by the Public Accounts Committee, and it would, therefore, be premature for me to make any full statement upon them at this stage. I must, however, point out that the two cases are in no sense in parallel, and that the reference to the £5,000,000 of orders placed without competition is to the Air Ministry's system of ordering aircraft and engines, which has given the Royal Air Force its present striking technical superiority over foreign air forces. So long as aeronautical technique remains fluid and continuous improvement in design is the main essential, no change in the general lines of that system is practicable. Though contracts for aircraft and engines are in consequence mainly non-competitive, costing and other checks are, of course, applied to ensure that prices are not excessive. My hon. Friend will find a reasoned explanation in the official letter printed on pages vii to x of the Comptroller and Auditor-General's Report.