§ 72. Mr. ADAMSONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the number of charters entered into by the Admiralty in respect of Admiralty-owned oil tankers to outside interests and the number of charters made by the Admiralty of privately-owned vessels over a period of the last three years for which statistics are available; the amount of commission paid by the Admiralty in respect of these charters; and the amount of commission received by the Admiralty?
§ The CIVIL LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)During the last three years ending 31st March, 1936, 104 charters to outside interests have been entered into in respect of Admiralty-owned tankers. The commission incurred in connection therewith amounted to £14,642. In this period, no charters of privately-owned tankers were made by the Admiralty until the recent political situation arose, when a few commercial 1882 tankers were chartered to meet Fleet requirements. Commission is payable to the brokers by the owners of the vessels, and the last part of the question does not, therefore, arise.