§ 11.41 a.m.
§ Mr. MORGAN JONESI beg to move, in page 1 line 11, after "sub-sections", to insert:
and in a case where the Treasury have directed, under Sub-section (6) of this section, that the liability of the Board to the Minister shall be reduced, a statement of the reasons for that reduction.I understand that this Amendment will be accepted, so I content myself by moving it formally.
§ Mr. ELLIOTThe Amendment simply gives express effect to the intention of the Clause, and the Government has much pleasure in accepting it.
§ 11.42 a.m.
§ Sir MURDOCH MCKENZIE WOODDoes it not suggest that when you are putting upon the board the necessity of submitting this statement to the Auditor-General, the Auditor-General is to be given some discretion in the matter? I quite agree that if the Treasury were to write off anything of that kind, the reasons for the writing off should be made clear, but I do not understand why it should be necessary to give these reasons to the Auditor-General, who, after all, has nothing to do with the discretion which the Treasury or the Minister has exercised in writing off something. I should have thought this was not the place to bring in such a provision, though I have no special objection to it.
§ 11.43 a.m.
§ Sir A. M. SAMUELI hope there will be no weakening, I will not say of the right, but of the opportunity, of the Auditor-General to bring before the Public Accounts Committee everything he thinks it is proper to bring, and in accordance with the powers given to him by this House with regard to the expenditure of money. If there is one thing that we need to do, it is to keep, certainly a sympathetic eye, but nevertheless a strong hand, on how money is expended, especially when public money is given in the form of a subsidy. I am sure the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Morgan Jones) will agree that the Auditor-General is never unsympathetic and never does anything which might harm an object for which money has been voted.
§ Mr. MORGAN JONESMay I give an assurance to the hon. Member for Banff (Sir M. McKenzie Wood) that my amendment follows strictly, word for word, Subsection (6) of Section 11 of the Agricultural Marketing Act?
§ 11.44 a.m.
§ Mr. ELLIOTIf I may by leave of the House speak again, it is only courteous to the hon. Member for Banff (Sir M. McKenzie Wood) to say that a statement of reasons of this kind would in the ordinary course be given. This is not in any way altering the relations which normally exist, but merely making them 704 more explicit, and I am sure the House will agree with the hon. Baronet the Member for Farnham (Sir A. M. Samuel) that it is desirable that such matters should be kept carefully in view, especially when we are dealing with public money in this way.
§ Amendment agreed to.