§ 27. Mr. Gardnerasked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence whether he takes any precautions to guard against collusive prices being charged by firms supplying the Defence Departments under agreements containing no firm prices?
§ The Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence (Sir Thomas Inskip)Yes, Sir. Where orders are placed under contracts which do not provide for fixed prices, it is the practice of Defence Departments to obtain such information as to production costs as will enable a fair price to be determined. This information is normally obtained by such methods as examination of contractors' books by the Department's accountants or by the preparation of technical estimates of costs.